Pure White Dreams
by ClearyRain
Summary: Her only dream was to have a Pokémon of her own. After fifteen long years, that dream finally came true. But Touko White never imagined that such a small wish would be in jeopardy; that she would be the one that needed to protect it. FerrisWheelShipping / Novelization of Pokémon White / Part I of Dreams & Destiny trilogy
1. The Dream Comes True

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 5-7 Days

**Summary: **Since two years ago, Touko's dreams became small. All she wanted was the joy of Pokémon to help fill the hole in her heart. But as Team Plasma emerges from the shadows, the world begins to change, threatening everything she ever wanted. Touko must find the will to stand up against the pain of truths she never knew and to discover the ideals she'd forgotten. To find her new dream. (_With FerrisWheelShipping_)

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

* * *

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**Prologue**

_Tales of Fantasy_

.

_"Once there was a great dragon…"_

A father's voice drifted through the room. His daughter was quite sure it was a story he had told before. She was ten now and surely she must have heard them all by now. But somehow, she was never quite sure; the details were always so foggy in her mind.

Perhaps it was because she didn't pay much attention anymore. The stories that once riveted her as a young child had lost some of their luster when she first approached double-digits.

Currently, she was flipping through an issue of PokéTrainer Monthly rather than giving her father's comforting voice full attention.

"Oh my! It was a very powerful dragon, I would assume!"

At least her mother was playing along.

"Enormously powerful!" he father concurred in a booming voice.

She spared a look at them over her magazine. Adults could be so weird sometimes. At least she could be glad they didn't behave this way out of the house.

Well, her dad didn't. Her mom took no such consideration and was always full-on ridiculous, calling her _Fluff-head_ of all things, _in public_ just yesterday. It was strange how suddenly her mom started being embarrassing. It was like she did it on purpose.

With a roll of her eyes and the exasperated sigh of the long-suffering, she returned to her magazine. There was another article about the new Champion in Kanto, a boy only about a year older than her. She positively seethed with jealousy that they got official Trainer's licenses so early in that region. In Unova, she couldn't be official until she was _thirteen_.

_Three more years_. That was _a third_ of her lifetime already...approximately? She wasn't very good at math.

"This dragon was commanded by two of the most powerful trainers Unova will ever see. It took the willpower of both to match up to the expectations of this great dragon."

There was a pause, perhaps for the bored preteen to get excited, but she only continued to flip through her magazine without care. As exciting as it may have been, she'd already read it ten times. Summer sure did get boring without Pokémon.

"However, even heroes such as these can only be human and eventually, they began to fight amongst themselves. Each wanted to pursue a different path. And so…the dragon Pokémon, unable to take the conflict of loyalty any more—"

And suddenly the front door to the house crashed open quite loudly, disrupting all dramatic story-telling for the time being.

It was a startling occurrence in most households, but the young girl just looked back nonchalantly for the expected sight: a blonde girl her age, looking positively giddy about something. The only slightly surprising thing was that the boy wearing glasses with her was looking almost as excited. Truly an amazing feat.

"You won't believe it!" the girl squealed as she stepped inside. "You just won't believe it!"

Just as the girl was wondering what it was she wouldn't believe, her other, more level-headed friend said, "Bianca, of course she won't believe you if you don't tell her anything."

"A trainer just came into town to visit the lab…on a _Charizard_!" As she finished, Bianca let out a squeal even greater than the first.

The girl looked between her two friends and settled on Cheren, raising her eyebrows in an unasked request for confirmation.

"I saw it myself," he informed her with a smile.

No more words were needed. She immediately scrambled up to find her shoes and jacket.

Normally, of the three, she was the most well-informed on the goings-on in Kanto, less out of actual interest and more because her mother wanted her to know about her family's heritage.

However, news about the youngest Champion in any region _ever_ was quite big. So big it made Charizard the "it" Pokémon of the moment. Charmander had been his starter Pokémon and it evolved into the glorious Charizard that played a big part of the amazing victory.

If she was the only kid not to see it in her class, she'd be even more of an outcast than her innate shyness already made her.

Plus, she _really_ wanted to see it.

"Wait a minute, Missy."

She stopped beside her friends, looking at her mother impatiently.

But her mother was having none of that at the moment, standing up and with the sort of stern expression that intimidated even the most rebellious of children. "Aren't you still grounded from a certain little excursion you three took on Route 1? Without permission."

Her mouth dropped open. _Still?_ It had been weeks!

She immediately looked to her friends, but they were too busy looking at the floor and shuffling their feet, unable to stand up to a mom-glare.

Finding no help there, she looked to her father, but he was too disappointed at the interruption to be any help. Finally, she relented and looked at her mother with pleading eyes, hoping that even though she'd never been a trainer, that she could somehow figure out how important this was.

"Oh, well if you're going to say _please_, I guess it's fine," her mother said sarcastically. Though there was a small smile on her face and a look in her eye that let her daughter know her true intentions.

Without further hesitation, she threw the door open, letting her friends out ahead of her. But although her mother, the outcast in the Pokémon family, was fine with it, somehow it was her former trainer father who stood up with an objection.

"Touko! What about the story? You never hear the ending…"

Perhaps it was the guilt of not being there when she was little, when she would have loved these extraordinary tales. She loved her father, idolized him, in fact. But she couldn't feign interest. She'd grown up.

Now, all she could do was offer a smile as her apology to her dad for the unintentional development. If she could, she'd be just as excited about legends and fantasies as he wanted her to be, but…

"Come on, Dad…it's just a story…"

And with that, Touko White closed the door, following after her friends, shouting all of their dreams about their own first Pokémon. In a future that seemed so far away…

* * *

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**Chapter One**

_The Dream Comes True  
_

._  
_

The sun was shining through the window. It was a perfect spring day. And this one happened to be perfect for a new adventure.

A girl, newly fifteen, sat in the middle of her room on the floor. There was a bed and chairs that would have been more comfortable, but none of them had a perfect view of _the box_. It had been dropped off a full half-hour ago and even though news traveled fast in a small town, it wasn't traveling fast enough at the moment.

Her school uniform hung on the door of her closet, probably never to be worn again_—_if things went well. Her voluminous brown hair had been pulled up into a ponytail sticking out of her cap. A baseball cap given to her by her father and finally today was the first day she was wearing it. All of her clothes were new and despite not knowing when she'd set out, she'd thrown everything on the instant she'd woken up and showered. Then all through breakfast she'd been jittery, to her mother's endless amusement.

All her life, she had been looking forward to one moment. Since the very first time she saw the "big kids" playing with their Pokémon and her mother had told her, "When you're older," Touko White had wanted a Pokémon of her very own.

And since two years ago, the want had become unbearable. At least before she could talk with her father. At least he had a Pokémon she could play with. Now that he was gone…

The past two years had been really tough. Her mother had only recently started to really smile again, act like herself again. Touko considered putting the journey off for another year if necessary, but her mother insisted.

So now, after all of the hardship and waiting it was finally her moment. And after sixteen years waiting, another few minutes should be nothing, but she was getting more and more antsy. The box was sitting right in front of her. Sixteen years, just a few more inches, and yet her friends had not instantly teleported to her house the moment news was sent out.

"Touko!" Cheren came into her room suddenly, as if he could sense her unfair resentment. "I heard Professor Juniper will let us have a Pokémon?"

She nodded silently and noted that, once again, he had not knocked. For someone as rigid as Cheren, it was a weird habit. Not that she really minded. That was the sort of friendship they had. That they all had. More a trio of siblings…that actually got along. Mostly.

Cheren being there should have made her feel better, but she wasn't particularly in the mood for conversation. Luckily, he seemed to share the sentiment, or at least was in the silent and pensive, rather than know-it-all version of typical Cheren.

Touko herself was never much of a talker, except perhaps around her friends and family. So, about three people. It was quite the problem considering her upcoming journey. How would you go about challenging someone else to a fight without speaking up? She'd spent an hour in front of the mirror trying various catchphrases out, but all she'd managed by the end was to look even more unconvincing a threat.

But Cheren was one of the exceptions to the shyness rule. Touko just didn't possess enough brain power to talk while worrying over her upcoming adventure. New fears had somehow popped into her head the past few minutes that had never surfaced before. What if her Pokémon didn't like her? What if she couldn't catch any more? What if she never won a single badge? What if she never won a single battle? What if she lost to Bianca?

She winced. Even just in her head, the last one felt mean. But speaking of…

"Where's Bianca?" Cheren asked aloud for her.

"I don't know, but—" Touko began, turning around in her most action-ready pose, ready to tear out of the house and find her friend herself. Because adventure waited and it was just cruel to make it wait even—

"Sooorry! Am I late?" Bianca threw upon the door—also completely ignoring the protocol of knocking—and arrived right at the last moment of Touko's sanity. She was good at that. Touko relaxed a bit, though she felt a little disappointed she wouldn't get the chance to work out some of her pent-up energy. Yet.

Of course, before they got on with it, Cheren and Bianca had to go through their usual, scold-apologize-rinse-repeat routine which Touko blocked out as she bounced impatiently.

"So, where are the Pokémon?" Bianca asked cheerfully, oblivious to the absolute agony one of her friends was currently in.

Touko pointed to the box atop her dresser. "Now can we _please_ pick? I had to stare at this box for at least a half-hour!"

"Did you really _have_ to?" Cheren asked shrewdly.

Rather than glare like she usually would at Cheren's comments, she made a half-exasperated, half-angry, all-pathetic noise that even she couldn't identify. "I'm _serious_. _Please_."

"Well, they were delivered to Touko's house and since she's been _so patient_, Touko gets first pick," Bianca decided, earning her the title for Favorite Person Ever from Touko for the moment. The wait time was entirely forgiven.

Restraining herself before diving in, Touko glanced back at Cheren, who smiled and said, "Naturally." Ok, so maybe it was a shared title.

Wasting no time, Touko did the honors of opening the box for all three of them to meet their new Pokémon.

But first, there was a note. Perhaps she should have read that earlier to get it out of the way.

Rather than toss it aside (she wanted that Pokémon so much, it was getting harder to be civil each moment she grew closer), Touko read it aloud:

_I've brought three Pokémon, one for you and one for each of your friends. Please settle your choices politely. Enjoy your Pokémon!_

_-Professor Juniper_

She smiled to herself. Of course they'd be polite about it. Her friends had already been downright generous and utterly fair. Professor Juniper had too little faith.

Now she did toss it aside (or place it neatly beside the box on top of the dresser, whatever), opened the box, and looked at the three Poké Balls.

The Grass-type, Snivy.

The Fire-type, Tepig.

The Water-type, Oshawott.

It felt so cruel to only pick one! She stood at the box, staring down at the balls for what must have been too long.

"Touko? Are you done yet?" Cheren asked impatiently.

_What a hypocrite I am,_ Touko though with a grimace. She turned back to her friends. "Sorry, just a second."

She should have been deathly afraid over how she'd make this choice instead of all the other things that were miles away right now. Not knowing what else to do, she ran her fingers over the top of each Poké Ball.

Oshawott, Tepig, and then…Snivy.

As her hand hovered over the grass-type's Poké Ball, it was as if she could feel a pull toward it. A cool, calm feeling that gently erased all of her fears like a gentle breeze.

Before she even knew or understood, she'd picked up the grass-type and held it in her hands.

Snivy was her Pokémon. Her first Pokémon.

Bianca and Cheren rushed in front of her after, pushing her a little in their own haste. But Touko was oblivious to their actions and the rest of her surroundings. All she could do was stare in wonder at the Poké Ball in her hands.

She had a Pokémon of her very own. All of her dreams, her greatest wish, finally came true.

Finally, coming out of her fog, she grinned widely in her new excitement. It was like being ten-years-old again.

"Oh, never mind. I wanted Tepig from the start," she heard Cheren mutter. Apparently, she'd missed out on another Cheren-Bianca argument. They were running quite short today.

It really was a good day.

"Since we've chosen, let's have a Pokémon battle!" Bianca proposed, in a scarily carefree voice considering just what she was suggesting.

Briefly, the fear of losing to Bianca ran through her head…with Cheren there to see it too.

But she tightened her grip on her Poké Ball and felt a calm reassurance. An idea flowing into her that said that she could do it. And even if she had to lose a battle, losing to a friend was the best way to do it. It took all the stress of fighting a stranger out of the equation for her first battle.

While she thought it over, Cheren and Bianca quickly argued it out (rather, Cheren said it was stupid and Bianca ignored him).

"You're on!" Touko decided, putting on the challenge-accepted smirk she'd also practiced in the mirror.

"You too, Touko?"

"Then it's settled, Touko! Let's have a Pokémon battle!"

"Snivy!" "Oshawott!" Touko and Bianca called out simultaneously. _Just like trainers on TV_, Touko thought giddily.

Equally exciting was the first look she got at her Pokémon. She'd seen Snivy before in pictures, but the real thing—the Pokémon that belonged to her—was quite different.

Her new Pokémon had quite the serious and haughty looking stare. But he glanced back at her and Touko thought she caught a small nod, as if to say that she would do. Whether or not she saw correctly, there was no time to really take it in just yet. She just had to prove herself either way in battle.

Touko called out first, "Snivy, use Tackle!" And her first fear was well out of the way when Snivy did exactly as commanded.

Bianca and her Oshawott responded in kind. And it went back and forth a while like that, Bianca used Tail Whip a couple of times, but Touko kept it going with tackles and with Snivy's superior speed, eventually emerged the victor for it.

When Bianca's Oshawott fainted, Touko felt a small stab in her heart for her wounded opponent. But as they each called back their Pokémon, she managed to keep it buried beneath the pride she felt in her Snivy.

_Her_ Snivy.

"Touko, you're gonna be an awesome trainer someday, I can tell! No doubt!"

Bianca was a beginner, just like her, so the comment didn't really have any basis for the belief. Just the same, Touko smiled brightly and threw her arms around her best friend. "That means everything coming from you."

Bianca returned the hug with a giggle, and knowing her, Touko was quite sure she had an adorable smile on.

"Uh…Bianca, would you take a look around?"

Bianca let go of Touko first and did as asked. "Wh-whoa! What happened?"

Touko was already quite sure of what she'd see once she heard Cheren's voice. The room was a mess.

_That's what moms are for? Forgiveness and cleaning? _she thought, trying to make herself feel better.

It wouldn't be so bad. She could see from the corner of her eye that her TV was still standing, the only thing to worry about… Touko turned slowly to look behind her. Her table had somehow gotten halfway onto her desk, right next to the computer.

"Wow…that was amazingly close…"

"I know, right! Pokémon are so _amazing_! So little, but so strong!" Bianca replied excitedly. Pokéfever was alive and well in the room.

"That's not what I…um yeah, sure," Touko replied with a sigh. She'd won, and yet somehow she felt like she lost just the same.

"…Oh. Um, sorry about your room, Touko," Bianca apologized sheepishly.

"It's all right, Bianca. Your apology is surely all I need to keep me happy in the lonely months that you guys get to journey far ahead, while I sit grounded in my room," Touko replied with a little laugh. "Well, that and Snivy."

Bianca laughed uneasily with Touko, not quite sure how serious she was. Touko wasn't quite sure herself. She was already cracking under the anxiety over what her mom might do to her. There was no precedence for this; her room had always been kept so neat, so it had never been a problem.

"You…are completely hopeless," Cheren walked over to Bianca with a sigh. He helped to heal both Bianca's and Touko's Pokémon. Cheren had been a scout at one point and kept the motto about being prepared quite seriously.

"Well, that's one problem down," Touko murmured sullenly.

The three stood in silence. Touko was usually only second in good nature to Bianca, but when she got down, she'd go all the way down. Since it was so rare, Bianca and Cheren couldn't handle a Touko "mood" as easily as they handled each other.

"Hey! I have an idea!" Bianca exclaimed suddenly. Touko looked at Bianca, expectations only moderately raised. "How about you battle too, Cheren?"

Good thing about those careful expectations, a full-on plummet would have been terrible.

Still, she felt a tingling sense of excitement at the idea. Battling with Bianca had been fun. She didn't enjoy hurting a Pokémon, but nothing had ever been such a rush before. And although they were very new partners, she was sure Snivy felt the same.

She gripped her Poké Ball tightly. Cheren was so smart; he would probably be more of a challenge than Bianca. A better challenge would make it even more exhilarating.

Now if only he'd agree.

"How does that solve anything?" Cheren asked skeptically, adjusting his glasses to give Bianca his best look of mild disdain.

"Well, it won't make things worse! Plus with all you know, I'm sure you can battle without turning the area into a full-on disaster area like I did!"

"You know, I believe you're right! Since it's me, it'll be no problem," Cheren agreed quite easily to the new tactic.

Bianca didn't seem like the brightest girl in town, but she really knew how to appeal to Cheren's ego. Touko discretely gave her friend a thumbs-up, who responded with a quick wink.

"Besides, it's not fair if you two are the only ones who have fun battling," he continued, adding on a more modest reasoning. He took up his position opposite Touko. "It's decided. You'll be my opponent in our first Pokémon battle!"

"Oh, all of these challenges! I didn't know I was so popular," Touko joked, getting ready to throw her Poké Ball.

"Let's see what you can do, Tepig!"

"Let's go again, Snivy!"

Since it was Cheren, and he had Fire-type, Touko hesitated on her first move. Could she win the same way as she had against Bianca? The Pokémon were so young…and without their type attacks and with her speed advantage…perhaps it was the right tactic to win. Cheren liked strategies, which would take up time. She could use it against him; while he focused on weakening her Pokémon each move, she would pile on the damage until it was too late.

She smiled, confident in her new plan, and just as before, ordered her new partner to tackle again and again. As she figured from her knowledge of her friend, Cheren tried to weaken Snivy's defense to give a bigger advantage for his Pokémon. But Touko and Snivy continued their relentless assault.

At the end, there was a moment when she thought, if Cheren tackled her weakened Pokémon might just be done for. However, when their eyes met across the small battlefield that was once Touko's room, she knew they were both thinking the same thing.

Juding by the tough-breathing Tepig, one last hit would take him out. Snivy, on the other hand, was moving as fast and powerful as ever, but Cheren's strategy might have been enough to knock out Snivy in one hit. However, if Snivy survived the hit, Tepig would certainly be out. There would be a clear opening for Snivy to regain balance before his weak opponent for that one last hit.

On the other hand, another tail whip wouldn't provide the same open opportunity and Touko was certain that it would be enough to knock Snivy out with one tackle.

They both knew it depended on Cheren's next move. And as Touko looked at him, she saw that her cool, calm, spectacled friend appeared a bit stressed.

Cheren was smart, but he was new. Just like her.

He commanded his Pokémon to use another tail whip. And as soon as he said it, Touko smiled and shouted, "Tackle again, Snivy!"

Because what she knew that Cheren didn't was that Snivy didn't need Tepig to falter to create an opening. After all, he was her Pokémon.

And just as Touko knew, although Snivy seemed tired, there was a look of determination in his eyes. With one last blow, he ended the fight.

Touko just barely restrained herself from jumping up in the air at victory—it was poor sportsmanship. But with two wins, Touko could officially consider herself undefeated.

"Tackle all the way through, huh? How like you, Touko," Cheren commented with a smile after calling Tepig back to the Poké Ball.

Touko frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" It didn't sound entirely like a compliment.

"Very straightforward. I should have seen it. I made a strange blunder in my first battle, but this feeling I have…I'm finally a trainer."

"Pretty great, huh?" Touko asked with a grin. _That_ was something she could definitely understand.

"But we'd better go apologize to your mother about this messed-up room."

Touko visibly deflated. "Couldn't we just sort of sneak out?"

"You'd have to talk to your mother at some point."

"Yes. At some point, ten years from now. Then she'll just be so happy to see me after so long, that she won't care that I messed up my room."

"…Come on," Cheren said, thoroughly ignoring her ridiculous reasoning as he walked down the stairs.

"Oh, I'd better come too," Bianca followed, looking far too cheerful over the situation.

Brand new Pokémon Trainer, Touko took a last look around the room. "Ugh…" she groaned with dread as she followed behind. "It was nice while it lasted."

While still on the stairs, she could hear the voices below and she stopped. She heard Bianca's timid voice first, "I'm very sorry about all the trouble, ma'am. Well, um…We can clean up…"

"No worries. I'll take care of it later," her mom's voice replied cheerfully.

Touko took the rest of the stairs two at a time. "No way! I'm not grounded?"

"When on earth was the last time you were grounded?" Mrs. White asked, looking thoroughly amused.

"Uh…" Touko looked at the ground. She'd only been grounded once in her life and that had been a pretty extreme case.

"The only way you'd possibly get in trouble is if you tried to hide it from me," Mrs. White explained, giving her daughter a knowing look. Touko gulped. "Of course, that would be silly because I could hear the Pokémon's cries from clear down here! That sure reminded me of my first Pokémon battle!"

"Just don't change your mind after you see the mess," Touko grumbled, until the last sentence fully registered. "Wait, what? Your first _what_?"

Touko had never heard a word about her mother being a trainer before. A lot of people were, it seemed almost half of the world went on some sort of Pokémon journey at some point. Her dad had continued being a full-time trainer right up until she was six.

But never once had she heard her mom even mention it. Sure, her mom seemed to like Pokémon a lot, but from what little she'd heard it sounded like her mom just studied them for a while, since she was going to be a teacher. So yeah, she knew a lot, but she never mentioned even owning a Pokémon. Well, except when she'd wistfully reminiscence on the helpful Minccino her own mother had when Touko was being an exceptionally messy child.

Anyway, the point was, her mom never said anything. So, naturally, Touko assumed she was part of the other boring half of the world.

"Oh, I'm sure it's terrible, but it's your first Pokémon and a really big day, so of course you're excited. It's fine," Mrs. White explained, waving off the situation as if it were just a missing button. "Besides, this just means you're taking after your father."

"What? _Dad_?" Touko asked incredulously. Her dad had been one of the most disciplined people she ever knew; a little silly, perhaps, when it came to being a doting father, but absolutely serious and contained when it came to Pokémon. She was learning all sorts of ridiculous things today.

"Oh, yes, he made a huge mess the day we set out together," Mrs White laughed. "If it's somehow worse than that, I'll be more impressed than anything."

"Together?" Touko repeated. She never knew how her parents met before. Or when. _Wait, they were my age then? Or younger!_

"Well, that's a story for another day. Shouldn't you be on your way to meet Professor Juniper? Off you go now!"

And before Touko knew it, Mrs. White had shuffled them all toward the door so quickly that she'd practically been shoved out. "Don't forget to come back to say goodbye before you leave!" she called out cheerfully from the window before closing the shutters.

"Somehow I feel a little rushed," Touko grumbled as she glared at the closed window. "Sure, she said to come back but…"

"We really _should_ get going though," Cheren said as he began walking down the path from the door.

"Oh! Wait! I've gotta go home first!" Bianca said suddenly, and hurried off on her own without a response from her friends.

Cheren sighed and looked back at Touko. "I'll meet you guys by the lab," he said before also running off.

"Sure," Touko replied into the empty yard.

She looked down at the Poké Ball still in her hand. She kneeled on the ground and pressed the button that would release her Pokémon.

Released from the Ball, Snivy stood up straight and met Touko's gaze with a strong look, as if he was appraising his new trainer.

Despite the two battles in her room, this was the first time Touko was face to face with the Pokémon that would both protect her and rely on her in the upcoming months.

"My name is Touko White," she introduced herself, although she was unsure of how much he would understand. "From now on, we'll be together. Always."

It was a promise. No matter what happened in the future, she would take care of Snivy. As long as he accepted her.

And just like in her room, she couldn't be sure, but she thought there was a small quirk of his mouth, a barely noticeable smile. Enough to really say, "You'll do."

She slowly put her hand on top of his head and when he didn't move away she gently pet his head. Snivy closed his eyes, as if he enjoyed the touch.

Satisfied in her new companion's happiness, Touko let him return to his rest inside the Poké Ball. Now that she was certain they could do it, together, she felt ready to follow after her friends.

She strolled out of her yard and onto the street. Only a few people were around. No less than usual though. Nuvema Town was pretty small. _But from now on, I'll be seeing all the big places,_ Touko thought with a small smile.

She still hadn't put her Snivy's Poké Ball away. She rolled it around in her hands as she walked to the Professor's, waving hello to the people she saw. It wasn't a very long walk, but she took it slowly so that when she got there, she wouldn't have to wait for Bianca.

Except when she got there, Bianca still wasn't there. Only a very impatient Cheren stood in front of the lab. Touko had even stopped to talk with Jennifer, the far-too-chatty neighbor she hardly knew, and yet, Bianca still managed to be latest.

"Can you go to Bianca's house? I'm sure she's spacing out like she—"

"Got it, got it," Touko waved him off and turned right back around. She put away her Poké Ball at last so she wouldn't drop it while she jogged back past her house and to Bianca's.

She opened the door without knocking (_Bad habits are contagious_, she thought as an excuse) and was met with some uncharacteristic shouting from the mild Aspen household.

"No, no, a thousand times no!" Mr. Aspen yelled at his daughter, who looked to be about in tears.

_Maybe I shouldn't be here…_ She caught the eye of Mrs. Aspen in the kitchen who only made a shushing motion. So, Touko stayed put, but tried to remain out of sight.

"But, I'm…" Bianca started to sniffle, then stood up tall. "I'm a good trainer who got a Pokémon and everything! I can totally go on an adventure!"

She turned around and stomped away, with enough confidence that Touko wanted to burst out in applause. But then Bianca stopped when she saw her hiding in the entry way and tilted her head.

_Leave it to me to ruin someone else's big exit…_

"Hey. Here to pick you up…for the adventure, you know?" She peeked around Bianca at Mr. Aspen. Then she whispered, for only Bianca to hear, "That's still ok, right?"

She looked lost for a moment. Then she adjusted her hat, like she often did when she was nervous. "Oh…it's ok. In fact…It's totally fine! I'll be waiting for you in front of the lab, ok?" Then Bianca continued right around Touko to complete the previous stomping out.

Of course, leaving Touko in an entirely uncomfortable situation. "Well, then…I'll just be leaving. Big day and—"

"What nonsense is this? How could my daughter, who knows nothing about the world, be going on a journey with Pokémon?" Mr. Aspen complained, then turned to Touko. "You're her friend. You shouldn't let her do something so dangerous."

Touko frowned and put her hands on her hips. She'd never been one to talk back to parents or adults in general (or perhaps anyone at all if she was honest), but Cheren's folks, and until now Bianca's, had never given her reason to. Now she had a reason to.

"Sir, your daughter is really smart. If she doesn't know much, she can learn pretty quickly. Plus she won't be alone with just Pokémon. I'm going to watch Bianca's back. So is Cheren. And I'm actually really glad to know she'll be watching mine."

"That's—"

"Don't mind my husband, dear. He's just being overprotective," Mrs. Aspen came in smoothly. "It's only natural, all children do it, isn't that right sweetheart?"

When she turned to her husband, Mr. Aspen just grunted.

"I'm sorry, to have taken up your time. I better go," Touko said before making a run for it. She paused at the door and gave a little wave goodbye. Mrs. Aspen was the only one who waved back.

She'd been so rude, but the thought of not having Bianca with her hadn't been that was easy to deal with. Her friends had waited for her before setting off on the journey, so she wouldn't leave them behind either. But spouting off like that…Touko could have made things worse instead of better. At least Mrs. Aspen seemed to be keeping things under control.

When she arrived at the lab, Cheren was looking more impatient than ever, probably wondering why the two hadn't come together. But he didn't say anything and insisted on going right in. Touko and Bianca quickly exchanged looks, which was enough to say that Cheren didn't know about what just happened. For the time being that was probably best. For Cheren, Pokémon were number one…but considering how flighty he already though Bianca was, Touko wondered if he would be on their side knowing Mr. Aspen's doubts.

Touko took Bianca's hand and squeezed it for a moment to reassure her, getting a smile in return. Girls were allowed to have some secrets. The two walked in together.

The Professor was waiting for them right in the lobby. "Hi, I've been waiting for you young people. Let me introduce myself again. My name is…"

"Professor Juniper, we know your name," Cheren interrupted.

"Come, come, Cheren! This is not a time to take things lightly!" the professor chided with a good-natured smile. "Today is a day to remember always, so it's best to behave with some formality. That being so, once again my name is Professor Juniper, and I am researching…"

Professor Juniper did behave with the utmost formality, explaining the things Cheren, Touko, and even Bianca already knew. But, she finally got to the important information, in exchange for the Pokémon, they would be completing a Pokédex. This, Touko really had no idea about, but from the explanation it seemed quite important.

Touko had her Pokémon. For now she just wanted to explore the region and take it easy with catching any more so she could really get to know each one. She could worry about the Pokédex after she became a real, veteran trainer.

"You'll go on an adventure to complete the Pokédex, will you not?"

As long as it got done at some point, right? "Sure," she replied in a small voice.

"Ok! I mean…Yes, professor!" Bianca also agreed, with her usual enthusiasm at a volume that positively buried Touko's.

"Thank you very much. Because of you, I can become a Pokémon trainer, exactly as I've always wished," Cheren said, giving the most appropriate response by far.

Then with a few more lessons, some more thank you's and good bye's, and a promise to meet the professor in the next town, the group left with their new Pokédex's and a set of Poké Balls to start off with.

As they walked out of the lab, Bianca spoke up, "S-since the professor asked us, it's ok to go on an adventure, right? I can explore and maybe find out what I want to do in life. I think I'd like that."

"Of course, we can travel however we want while we complete the Pokédex." Even when not knowing what was going on, Cheren could say the right thing. He walked on ahead of them.

With just the two of them, Bianca leaned close and whispered to Touko, "For some reason, my heart is pounding Touko. What are you and Snivy going to do?"

"We're going to go on an adventure, of course. With you and Oshawott."

Bianca smiled and ran ahead. "Then let's go to Route 1!"

"Sure thing! I just need to go home and say goodbye to my mom first!" As her friends ran ahead, Touko hurried back home. She needed a real goodbye with her mother, even if it meant the recent trainer revelation would get ignored.

"Mom?" she called as she opened the door.

Mrs. White appeared from the kitchen. "Oh good, I was afraid you'd forget or sulk off on your own. And with no way to contact you!" She started rummaging around in some drawers. "So, what did the professor say?"

"She gave each of us a Pokédex," she answered as she walked over to see just what she was up to.

"She asked you to complete the Pokédex? I can't believe it!" she exclaimed with far too much excitement, momentarily looking up from her task. "Well, actually, I can. I already knew she was going to ask."

"Of course you did," Touko said with a laugh.

"Ah! Here it is!" Mrs. White retrieved something at last from the drawers and handed it to her daughter. "Here is your cross-transceiver. You have to keep in contact with me. Every day, every place, every city, and such."

Touko looked at the device in her hand. "Oh sure, then you'll tell me all about the things you've been keeping secret, right?"

Her mother laughed. "They're not secrets, just memories." She took the Xtransceiver from Touko and helped her to fasten it on.

"Yeah, but you never told me."

"It never came up."

Touko raised an eyebrow.

"Really. Your father and I discussed it when we got married. Some parent always ends up being the strict one and they end up begrudging it later on. We didn't want that, so I volunteered. I'd keep you on track with school, while he would properly bring you up with Pokémania."

"You were the strict one?" Touko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you have been afraid of telling your father about your room?"

That instantly shut Touko up. Her father probably would have just congratulated her on having such a powerful Pokémon, perhaps offer some advice on learning to reign it in. Even if she had broke her computer.

"You see? If both your father and I got caught up in it with you, no one would ever do any parenting. Plus we did softball together, wasn't that fun?"

"Good training for Poké Ball throwing," Touko joked.

"Oh yes," her mother replied in utmost seriousness, throwing Touko off for a moment.

"Hmm…so were you any good then?"

"Well, I was a trainer in a gym for a while after I got tired of the roaming part. I used to get in trouble for not letting anyone get to the gym leader. He really hated that. But he did ask me to take over when he wanted to retire. Unfortunately, that was around the time your father had just proposed and we were thinking of settling down."

The surprises just kept on coming like continuous hits from her Snivy. "No way! What gym?"

"Now _that_ is a secret."

"Eh? Just tell me already."

"How about this?" her mother began slyly, "If you call me from every gym, I'll tell you the one when you get there."

"Cheater," Touko pouted.

"Of course, I can't rely on you to remember once things get exciting! Unless you were to get lost…" She clapped her hands together. "Speaking of, I have something else for you. You, Bianca, and Cheren actually."

This time, she found what she was searching for much more easily; they were waiting on top of the coffee table. "Here you are. Three Town Maps. Be sure to tell them they're from me, don't go stealing my credit."

"Mom, seriously?" Touko took the maps from her and put one in her bag, the other two in the back pocket of her shorts.

"You'll damage them just stuffing them away like that!" It was Mrs. White's turn to pout.

"I really hope you're not expecting them returned in pristine quality…"

"Speaking of…your room—or rather what's left of it…"

"Ugh…"

"No need to worry. It really is smaller than your father's mess," she said good-naturedly. "And without my daughter around to keep me busy, I'll have so much free time. _Lonely _free time." She ended with a long sigh.

"By the way," Touko began, brushing off the classic attempt of motherly guilt. "Since you were the one heading off the same day as Dad, you didn't by any chance have a part in that mess, did you?"

"…I choose not to answer that."

"Of course."

"Enough of this, though. You really should be on your way," Mrs White said, with a much more honest sigh. She took her daughter's hands. "I will miss you."

"I know, Mom. I'll miss you, too."

"I will worry if you don't call, you know? But I guess I'll feel better knowing that you have Pokémon that can destroy a room to keep you safe!" she finished with a laugh.

Touko laughed as well and gave her mom a hug. "Don't be too lonely, ok?"

Her mother returned the hug, tucking her daughter's head beneath her chin. She was still taller, but only just barely enough. "Oh that, I was just kidding. But you really do need to take care of yourself. And Cheren and Bianca as well. All of you take care of each other."

"I already told Mr. Aspen that."

"Ah…well, I think he probably needed to be told."

"Moms know about everything, don't they?"

"Pretty much," she said and kissed her daughter's forehead before releasing her. "Have fun on your adventure and become a wonderful adult for me. But feel free to visit before that too, I'm not really picky."

"I will…have fun and stuff. I make no promises otherwise. Except about the calling." After receiving a nod from her mother, saying this was acceptable, Touko stepped back. "So, I'm ready."

Mrs. White nodded again, and for the first time in a year, she had tears in her eyes. "Your father would be so proud."

Touko's face fell. "Mom…"

"Go on, I'm just being a mother. I'm allowed to do that."

Touko smiled hesitantly headed out the door and down the path. When she reached the end, she looked back at her mother standing in the doorway. "Have a safe trip!" her mother called out as she waved.

"I will!" she called back with an easier smile.

Then she headed up the street, toward Route 1 and toward her future.

* * *

**Author's Note:** "Novelizations" of the game are not new at all, but I didn't want this to discourage me from writing the first thing I've felt inspired about in so long. _Pure White Dreams_ is the first of a trilogy I'm calling _Dreams & Destiny_. It will be followed by a sequel taking place during the events of B2W2, but still featuring Touko as its protagonist, that sort of takes place in the background of events of the game. The third will have no game as a basis, even if Game Freak did make an unprecedented threequel.

In the beginning, things will follow the game very closely, almost exactly in this chapter, except allowing protagonist involvement. But as we move further out, things will drift in and out, sometimes veering off entirely into original territory. I've done this to include further plots and add development. Particularly, as noted, this is FerrisWheelShipping, so a few original scenes for that can be expected.

Pure White Dreams is already about 70% written, so barring any catastrophes I should be updating on a regular schedule. Right now it's every 5 days. The goal is to move right into the sequel. We're starting off with a bonus, with chapter two arriving tomorrow (I can't let a fic labeled for FerrisWheel Shipping stand too long without N appearing). So, I'll see you then. ^^


	2. Small Town Misadventures

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 5-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously: **Since two years ago, Touko's dreams became small. All she wanted was the joy of Pokémon to help fill the hole in her heart. Now she finally has that chance. And with Snivy and her two best friends, Cheren and Bianca, she can finally step out of her small town down a path filled with memories...

* * *

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**Chapter Two**

_Small Town Misadventures_

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"One, two!"

All together, the trio from Nuvema Town stepped out onto Route 1, the first steps of their Pokémon journey taken while holding hands. Just like the day Cheren and Bianca stood beside Touko when she was being bullied out of playing softball by the boys on the playground.

Eight years later, they still stood together.

Bianca let go first, running ahead to the sign. "Look! Only ten miles to Accumula Town!"

"'_Only_ ten,' huh?" Cheren repeated as he examined the sign as well.

Touko looked up at the sky. It was easy to see Cheren's point. She didn't know a lot about telling time without a digital clock telling her exactly what was what, but the sun was already looking pretty low. The day was going by fast.

"So, we'll get there tomorrow. No big deal!" Bianca replied in her brightest, carefree manner, waving off any of Cheren's minor concerns or frustrations.

The waving did not work very well though, as Cheren could only sigh in new exasperation.

"Come on, we'll just make what time we can today," Touko compromised, then walked past them to demonstrate her prodigious ability to walk and talk at the same time.

Bianca ran to catch up, taking Touko by the arm. She looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue at their friend. "See, Cheren? Touko thinks you're being silly!"

"I didn't say that."

But it didn't matter, because Cheren gracefully ignored the incorrect jab and walked beside them. It must have been the excitement of the day that kept Bianca and Cheren so peaceful and forgiving. Hopefully, the mood would last. They would have to spend a lot more time together, even more so than the constant invasion into each other's lives that already existed.

"Ohmigosh! You guys! Look! It's the lake!" Bianca ran ahead and disappeared into the trees.

Touko and Cheren followed behind, to take one last look at the only landmark around Nuvema Town. A not very important one at that, except to them.

"You know, it's not actually a lake," Cheren noted as they looked across the sparkling water.

"We didn't know that until we were ten though. No point in calling it something else now after all this time," Touko replied with a shrug. Then she smiled. "Might as well keep the name as tribute to the adventure."

"That was so reckless." Cheren grimaced at the memory.

"It was so much fun, though!" Bianca added in with a bright smile.

"In hindsight, maybe. If I recall, you were in tears at the time, Bianca."

"Tears of joy!" Bianca insisted with a nod, but even her upbeat manner couldn't repress a shudder at the memory.

"Our parents were so ticked," Touko recalled with a wincing smile. "If Unova allowed licenses at ten, we still would have had to wait until we were fifteen after that."

"Can't really blame them," Cheren said, wincing as well.

As the three stared out at the water, Touko could remember the incident all too well. A long, hot, and _boring_ summer day when three children between the ages of nine and ten with too much time on their hands decided to break all of the rules.

Don't leave town without telling your parents. Never leave town without a proper Pokémon guard. Don't play trainer without permission to use your father's Pokémon.

Essentially, what they'd done was take Touko's dad's Braviary without permission so they could leave town and go to "the lake" by themselves. What followed, was a terrifying incident when Bianca had gotten caught up in a current and all three learned that just because you can't see the edge of the water thanks to some trees, doesn't mean you should assume there is an edge to the water.

Brav wouldn't listen to a single command from Touko to rescue Bianca, leading to a very sobering lesson about using someone else's Pokémon. Brav only listened to her before because her father had ordered him to.

Luckily, Touko's dad figured it out and caught up with them before things went too far. Her father and Brav staged a spectacular rescue, just like a hero on TV. It was that day, that Touko really decided that she wanted to be a trainer, rather than just a girl with Pokémon.

What followed was unpleasant and the experience itself had been terrifying, but somehow, it became a fond memory. An adventure on their own. A disaster, to be sure, but their first try for independence.

"Man, we were stupid," Cheren finally broke the silence. And all three burst out into laughter.

"That's why it was such a good learning experience," Touko offered as the alternative optimistic interpretation.

"Experience we should put to use on a real adventure!" Bianca decided enthusiastically. She turned back around and pointed down their path. "Onward, to Accumula Town!" She raced ahead.

"As far as we can get, anyway," Cheren added as he and Touko followed. Though, he said it much more mildly this time.

"Accumula Town, huh?" Touko pondered aloud. "Feels weird to start some great journey in a place that's so familiar."

"Of course the places at the beginning are familiar," Cheren answered with the adjustment of his glasses that often accompanied his being a know-it-all.

Ahead of them, Bianca slowed down until she walked beside them as well, then said softly, "I haven't been actually. Maybe driving through when we went on that family vacation once, but…"

Touko frowned as she looked at her friend. It looked like the person most responsible for Bianca knowing "nothing about the world" was Mr. Snow himself.

"Well, now you get to see it," Cheren said nonchalantly. "Of course, it's nothing to really get excited over, barely bigger than Nuvema…"

"Don't oversell it or anything, Cheren," Touko remarked.

Bianca giggled, easily back into her lighthearted mode and keeping up everyone's mood with her.

Despite Touko's fears, everyone remained happy and joking the entire day and right through their first night camping out on the side of the road. But as they were getting into the sleeping bags for the night, something occurred to Touko.

"Isn't it weird that we haven't met any Pokémon, yet?"

Cheren and Bianca looked to her at this new revelation.

"Hmm…" Bianca hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe our parents were always just liars about how many Pokémon were outside town to make sure we wouldn't wander off."

"We just need to go further into the wild grass tomorrow, is all," Cheren explained, rolling his eyes at Bianca's explanation.

Touko flopped down onto her pillow with a frown, unhappy with either explanation. She wanted to meet more Pokémon. It always felt like leaving Nuvema Town would mean entering the wilderness with Pokémon all over the place.

"You know, you need more Pokémon if you really want to be Champion, Cheren," Touko informed him sullenly. "You could show a little more concern."

"Or I could figure that with one Pokémon, I can increase my effort and results in training Tepig."

Touko sighed, giving into the argument. It was one she understood far too easily.

_Well, if I can't meet any yet, I'll just enjoy what I have,_ Touko decided and she took out Snivy's Poké ball, releasing her companion.

Snivy stared at her as if to say, "It took you long enough," and crawled into her sleeping bag without an invitation, claiming a portion of her pillow for his own as well.

"That's so cute," Bianca observed with a giggle.

Touko, on the other hand, frowned down at her Pokémon, wondering exactly who was in charge. But as everyone else got into their sleeping bags and they put the fire out, Touko couldn't help but smile at her Pokémon already asleep. Her Pokémon. It still felt like a dream. She laid her head down on what room on the pillow was left to her and hoped that even after she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up.

**XWXWXWXWX**

In the morning, Touko found that Snivy had somehow forced her completely off of her pillow and was using the entire thing as a bed. She couldn't even really figure out how this happened, because Snivy was too small to even need the whole thing. It was certainly a strain on her all-consuming love for her companion.

But because she was, in fact, consumed by love, she adjusted her revenge accordingly and grabbed the small Pokémon in a hug and bestowed a kiss on the top of his head to wake him up.

Now, thoroughly awakened, Snivy squirmed out of her grip and leveled a small frown at her, increasing the disdain in his eyes. But Touko only smiled and pat her companion on the head before getting up. Snivy stood up, with a flick of his tail to Touko for the insulting cutesiness he had endured so early in the morning and returned to his Poké ball to finish his morning's rest.

Touko just laughed at his theatrics, somehow already used to his alternately haughty and serious demeanor.

Bianca and Cheren woke up soon and after half an hour, they'd all eaten breakfast and broken down their makeshift camp, anxious to head out for the first full day of their journey.

"Well, let's move ahead to Accumula Town," Cheren said and started walking ahead.

"Wait. What about catching Pokémon?" Touko asked with a frown. "We didn't see any yesterday, so I thought today we were going to go looking. Don't forget about the Pokédex."

"If I encounter some Pokémon along the way, sure, I'll catch them. But I want to make some good time today. Don't you guys?"

"Yeah…" Bianca agreed, "After all, I want to go shopping for more Poké Balls to catch my Pokémon!"

"Do you think you can catch more than four on just Route 1?" Cheren asked skeptically.

Bianca pouted. "Don't be mean."

"Well, it's not like I really want to catch that many on Route 1 either."

"Ah! But see! You said 'want'! If you _wanted_ to, you could! But I just can't!"

"I don't think I meant that."

"'_Think'_?"

Touko felt a pout of her own coming on. What happened to the excitement from yesterday? "Do we really want to fight so early? We should be heading off to adventure in the morning sun and catching Pokémon and…that kind of stuff."

Bianca at least looked thoughtful about this; Cheren looked like he just wanted to go.

"I've got it! Touko, Cheren, I thought of something fun!" Bianca said suddenly, always the one coming up with ideas. "Why don't we see who can catch the most Pokémon? The person carrying the most Pokémon is the winner!"

It was like a burst of sunlight cleared the tense mood. That was Bianca, all right. "That's a great idea Bianca!"

"Huh. Actually that sounds interesting," Cheren replied much more soberly.

"Why do you sound so surprised? My ideas are usually fun," Bianca stated with a small nod of assurance for herself.

_And destructive_, Touko added silently. To Cheren's credit, even he let this easy shot slide.

"So, let's go!" Bianca cried as she ran off ahead of them.

"Don't just run off!" Cheren called after her as he ran onto the route as well.

As Touko stood alone she sighed, almost fondly, _Competitive as always,_ and continued at her own leisurely pace.

Despite the fact that, as Cheren had told her multiple times, Pokémon would be waiting in the tall grass, after wandering around for an hour she still hadn't found anything. Despite winning her first two battles against her friends, it looked like she was about to be on the losing side.

She was just about to give up and walk straight through to Accumula Town, when she literally tripped over a Lillipup.

For a moment their eyes met and Touko broke out in a wide smile. _Oh my gosh, my first wild Pokémon_!

For Lillipup, however it was not love at first sight. He gave a fierce little growl, which was more cute than intimidating. Fortunately, Touko had spent enough time studying to know that with Pokémon, looks could be deceiving. She scrambled to her feet and pulled Snivy's Poké Ball, almost dropping it in her excitement.

"Alright, Snivy. I'm counting on you!" she told her first Pokémon when he was out of the Ball.

Seeing that he was about to step into battle, his cute-grudge was promptly put behind him and he smiled, ready to go.

She used the same tackle strategy (or lack of strategy) as she had with Cheren and Bianca, except she held back once she saw that Lillipup was getting sluggish. Then, with years of training as her school's Girl's Softball team pitcher, she hit the mark with her Poké Ball.

After a few seconds that felt like hours, the ball clicked and Touko had caught her first Pokémon. She threw her arms up in the air and jumped as high as she could.

"Oh my gosh!"

She picked it up from the grass and turned to Snivy, the only one around to enjoy the glory with her. "Snivy! Look what we did! It's my first…_our_ first! The first Pokémon we caught!"

She picked up her grass Pokémon and twirled him around. And despite the permanent snide look in his eyes, she thought she saw a little smile at this display of affection. She set him down on the ground and gave him a long look. "You know what, partner? I think you'll be just fine out of your ball. I sure could use the company."

She gave a little nod, feeling quite pleased with herself; though Snivy didn't look too put out either. Probably. It was hard to tell.

"Know what else? We're going to catch another Pokémon and at least put up a good fight for the competition! Let's go!"

The new duo helped Touko catch a Patrat as well, giving her a trio to command. Ignoring the competition, three Pokémon was plenty for a brand new trainer to care of, so she met up with her friends at the end of the route.

Both of them had two, so she was the winner once again.

"Looks like three is my lucky number," she told them with a laugh. "Three victories, three Pokémon!"

"No one likes a bragger," Cheren informed her sourly.

"Oh, like you wouldn't do it in my place, spoilsport," Touko complained as she put away her Poké Balls. "Let's get to Accumula Town now."

"By the way, should your Snivy really be out and about like that right now?" Cheren asked with a frown.

"See, that's what I mean about being a spoilsport," Touko answered breezily and continued on her way.

"I was reading something…this Professor from…Johto, I think? Well, he said it's a good thing to walk around with your Pokémon," Bianca added as she trotted along beside them. "It builds your relationship!"

Even Cheren couldn't argue with a professor. His silence spoke volumes and Touko sent a little smirk his way.

The three walked together, joking their way through town until they came to the Poké Center where Professor Juniper was waiting. She was going to show them all through the Poké Center, which Touko thought sounded boring, but was too polite (or shy) to say as much. Cheren wasn't so polite and left because he "already saw everything when I was ten."

Of course, that wasn't before the professor made Touko put Snivy away before going inside so Cheren could give her an "I told you so" look in retaliation for her smirk. When he left, Professor Juniper just laughed good-naturedly and brought the girls on the tour. There must have been some adult secret, because just like her mom, Professor Juniper seemed able to laugh off anything.

Naturally, Bianca was thrilled over everything and Touko did have to admit she learned some new things. The PC was going to be incredibly useful. Though she still had her problems with Pokémon storage. If she did complete the Pokédex, how often would she see all those Pokémon? There were so many in Unova alone! She'd have to work out some sort of rotation schedule or else she'd miss everyone too much. Already, she felt it would be too sad to be separated from either Lillipup or Patrat. Not to mention Snivy.

After they healed their Pokémon and picked up some items, they headed back outside while Juniper told them about someone named Fennel they should be on the look out for. Touko privately wondered if she'd get to find out if all researchers were a bit quirky, or if it was just the professor.

The professor headed back to Nuvema Town while Bianca ran back into the Poké Center because she "forgot to pick up some super-super important items" leaving Touko on her own again. She thought about calling her mom, to check in like she promised, but it had only been a day.

Plus there seemed to be a growing crowd in the plaza across the street…

_Funny, it was empty when we went inside. We weren't that long, were we?_

She made her way to the front of the crowd and found Cheren. With Tepig. Normally she would take the opportunity to gloat, but she was more curious about the crowd. "What's going on?"

"I was wondering that myself." He frowned and gestured to a group of men and women in what resembled, perhaps a medieval knight's uniform (or at least drawings she'd seen in children's books).

A man walked to the front of the group, wearing a long robe. When he spoke, it was with a deep, powerful, reverberating voice; like it was made for giving speeches.

"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma."

At that there were several murmurs in the crowd, "What's Team Plasma?"

Cheren and Touko just exchanged looks of uncertainty.

"Today ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation!"

If the announcement of the unfamiliar team caused a stir, this was like setting off fireworks in the plaza. Everyone was looking at each other in confusion. Touko felt a deep uneasiness rising in her stomach and chest.

"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However…is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans…only assume this is the truth?"

She reached inside her pocket and gripped Snivy's Poké Ball in her hand.

"Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of Trainers…They get pushed around when they are our '_partners_' at work…"

The use of the word, "partner" felt like an icicle in her chest and she took Snivy's ball out of her pocket, holding it to her chest. They _were_ partners. Hadn't Snivy smiled at her? She couldn't have just seen that because she wanted to, right?

"Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"

The crowd seemed uncertain, only a few disagreeing, others seeming uncertain, the majority were like Touko, left silent.

The man, Ghetsis walked toward her side of the crowd and stood before her. She looked in his one visible eye and felt such a bitter chill coming from him. Suddenly, Touko found a rare strength, like what had seized her the prior morning when she stood in Bianca's house.

"No! It's wrong!" she shouted, clear as day.

Suddenly, the crowd went silent and that cold eye was upon her. Despite his seemingly reasonable words and good-intentioned message, something was wrong about the man. She stiffened, but refused to turn away, a defiant look in her eyes.

"A new trainer I see…perhaps then, with time," he dismissed her, though what seemed like a kind smile, felt much more like a snarl to her. He turned to the rest of the crowd. "Now ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?"

The murmurings began again, but this time Touko remained silent, only glaring at the man.

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals." He allowed this bold statement to sink in before continuing, "Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon…and the correct way to proceed."

With a final nod of deference to the crowd, he closed out his speech, "We sincerely appreciate the attention." Then he left with the rest of "Team Plasma" in formation around him, their organization reminding Touko eerily of a full-blown military.

Before he turned the corner, she could have sworn that he glanced back with the same cold eye and this time, she wasn't able to appear unnerved.

Once he was gone, everyone in the crowd began talking excitedly before dispersing, choosing to ignore the question than face it on such a nice day.

"What do you think?" She turned anxiously to Cheren once they were alone.

"I think that was really unlike you."

"That's not what I'm talking about." She released Snivy from his Pokéball and crouched down so she was at the same level as her Pokémon. "I can't imagine not having Snivy with me already. He _is_ my partner…"

Snivy let out a few noises, which Touko couldn't really figure, but she hoped it meant he was happy. She gave him a small smile.

Cheren seemed unsure of what to say for once, looking at his own Tepig on the ground.

Seeing Cheren's gaze, Snivy turned to Tepig and the two Pokémon involved themselves in some sort of conversation the trainers couldn't hope to follow. But there was a lot of nodding and therefore probably agreement involved.

Touko smiled at the newly created bond between the Pokémon, friends just like her and Cheren. Snivy turned to look up at Touko, and this time she knew for sure that he was smiling at her.

"Your Pokémon…" An unfamiliar voice began, a quick mumble, "Just now, it was saying…"

Touko looked up to see who had spoken. A stranger, a boy perhaps older than her? She couldn't really tell much about, except, perhaps it was just her position on the ground, but he looked almost menacingly tall. Or maybe it was just because of the green hair, like that Ghetsis guy. Everything about _that_ man gave her the creeps at the moment.

As he approached she picked up Snivy in her arms and stood up so she wouldn't feel so small. It didn't really help. She scooted next to Cheren for support instead, practically hiding behind him.

"Slow down. You talk too fast," Cheren said. "What's this about Pokémon…talking? That's an odd thing to say."

It was a very odd thing to say. Though Touko already felt that the boy (young man?) before her was a very odd person.

"Yes, they're talking," he answered, speaking just as quickly as before. He paused for a moment as the realization took hold. "Oh. Then you two can't hear it, either…How sad."

Cheren's frown just deepened at that, he looked itching to point out the lack of logic in what the man was saying: Pokémon didn't talk. At least not in a way people could understand.

As for Touko, she felt like she was being pitied somehow, which didn't exactly sit well with her either.

"My name is N," the green-haired boy informed them.

Once again, Cheren looked ready to say something quite rude if Touko read his expression right ("That's not a real name" seemed most likely), so Touko elbowed him in the stomach. Despite the action, she remained silent and looked to Cheren to cover for her.

Regardless of the injury he just received from his friend, Cheren recognized Touko's usual stranger-induced shyness and spoke for the both of them, _politely_ lest he get another elbow to the stomach. "My name is Cheren, and this is Touko. We were asked to complete the Pokédex and we just left on our journey. My main goal is to become the Champion though."

"The Pokédex, eh?"

Touko raised her eyebrows. He'd actually heard of it? Was she just constantly out of the loop?

"So…you're going to confine many, many Pokémon in Poké Balls for that, then. I'm a trainer, too, but I can't help wondering…Are Pokémon really happy that way?" He was still speaking quickly, but Touko could keep up, because it sounded a lot like what she'd just been hearing. And that sudden fire in her returned.

The fact that she felt her own twinge over the Pokédex and storing her Pokémon was ignored for the moment. She loved Pokémon; she wouldn't allow anyone to insinuate that she didn't put them first.

"That's not fair!" Touko disagreed loudly, stepping forward to stand apart from Cheren. "People are suddenly acting like everyone just throws Pokémon into Poké Balls. I love my Pokémon and I have a pretty good idea about what they feel too. Because Snivy smiled at me! No one can tell me that doesn't mean anything."

The sudden outburst clearly came as a surprise to Cheren, who had never heard her say more than a few words to strangers unless forced into it and always in the softest voice.

The actual person she was speaking to, however, looked quite unperturbed. N walked toward her. "Well, Touko, is it? Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!"

She just furrowed her brow in confusion. It took until he pulled out a Poké Ball that she realized this was a challenge for a battle. She swallowed and stepped back, setting Snivy on the ground. "Fine, my _partner_ and I will accept that challenge."

He sent out a Purrloin, another local Pokémon that Touko felt lucky she knew quite easily. A dark-type Pokémon. If her memory and lessons were right, there wouldn't be anything nasty waiting for her Snivy. Just a battle based on skill and power.

"Snivy, let's try out what we learned today. Use vine whip!" But the Purrloin was too fast and got its scratch in first.

It was tense, trading blows back and forth. This time, when Purrloin used growl, it did have Touko worried about the battle. _This guy knows what he's doing_, she thought, brow knit in determination, _But this is my third battle and since three is my lucky number today, I will win this fight._

"Straight-forward," she murmured to herself. Then louder to Snivy, "Keep using vine whip, don't stop!"

Once she set aside her uncertainties, the battle turned entirely in her favor. At some point in the battle, after a growl from Purrloin, Snivy got particularly worked up with a disdainful growl of his own, and started throwing everything into each attack. Eventually, it was with a particularly harsh tackle that the Purrloin fell.

Touko ran forward and picked up Snivy, but once she stood up straight, she froze, unable to celebrate the victory. The look on N's face was quite different from either Cheren or Bianca when they lost. They had taken it in stride, Bianca had even been excited. But N looked _hurt_, somehow.

"I never expected to hear Pokémon say such things," she just barely heard her opponent say. He sounded so confused and he was speaking softer than before, as if she wasn't really meant to hear it. She felt a little embarrassed that she had, it felt like it was an intrusion, and she looked away.

However, he seemed to pick himself up quickly and began rambling on again, "As long as Pokémon are confined in Poké Balls…Pokémon will never become perfect beings."

"Perfect—?" she started in confusion, but he continued right through.

"I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends," he said with a certain finality. Then he turned and disappeared further into the town, leaving no shortage of confusion behind him.

For a moment, Touko wanted to follow after him, unable to get the expression after he lost out of her head. She wanted to find out why, what were the things that this strange trainer was saying?

But common sense reigned and she stood by Cheren in silence.

"Huh…strange guy," Cheren commented nonchalantly.

"Isn't that a bit of an understatement?" Touko mumbled, still sporting a confused frown.

"Who is it that's always telling me to be nice? Anyway, I'm not going to worry about it. Trainers and Pokémon help each other out. Like you said, we really are partners. So, don't you worry about it either."

"I'm not worried…just angry," Touko insisted, hugging Snivy to her chest. "That someone would want to take away a friend…it's just as bad as taking away you or Bianca really."

Cheren smiled slightly at that. Then, almost instantly, he looked uncomfortable and said, "Listen, I'm going on ahead."

"Eh?"

"I want to battle the gym leader in the next town—Striaton City. You should too. Aim to battle gym leader after gym leader. The best way for a trainer to become stronger is to challenge the gyms in each area."

"Cheren…" What was she supposed to say? Don't go, like a needy child and halt Cheren on his path to his own dream? Instead, she gave a small little nod, not trusting herself to voice anything without showing her disappointment.

Satisfied with that response, Cheren turned around and started to walk off. "Good luck," he said without turning around, "And don't worry too much."

Then he was gone.

Bianca wasn't around either.

What was the point of being on this adventure together if they weren't _together_? She'd thought they were going to stick with each other, maybe not every step of the way, but at least at the beginning.

Was she the only one who thought that way?

She looked down at Snivy. Then she thought of N. "Friends. That's what he said…that Pokémon were his friends. I guess it's only natural for him to consider abandoning them, then."

Immediately, she realized how immature this sounded, but with no one around to hear it, she didn't particularly care for the moment. "Come on, let's get you healed. Then we can go find Bianca so she can properly leave us behind too. We'll be slowpokes and stay the night."

**XWXWXWXWX**

After she spent the afternoon roaming the town, Touko came to the conclusion that Bianca had left as well, confirmed by an Xtransceiver call a while later ("Sorry, Touko! I didn't even realize you weren't here too!").

The town was thoroughly explored (it was just a town, but it sure was bigger than home), but without much reward. The people seemed just as friendly as at home, but she was too shy to really talk to anyone except a couple of very friendly kids who had been very impressed when she threw their wayward ball back to them, getting it right in the kid's glove without any effort required on his part.

But it was getting dark, so she popped back into the Poké Center. She looked at the mart; she should get a few more potions and Poké Balls, but who knows what would be necessary later on? Plus she needed to find a place to spend the night…

Poké Centers were supposed to be useful; she could do this. She walked up to someone at the counter. "Excuse me?" she asked in a small voice. "Since it's getting dark, I was looking for a place to stay."

"Oh yes. Accumula Town is quite small, but we do have a couple of beds for trainers upstairs. We don't have as much space, so we have to use the corridor every so often to get to the storage closets, but we'll do our best not to disturb you," the nurse answered with the most pleasant smile.

Touko tried to hide the horror from her face, at the prospect of having people be able to see her sleeping. "Th-thank you. I'll be back then," she mumbled and scurried outside to better think things over.

She walked to the park across the street and slumped into the nearest bench. "Maybe we should just go on ahead like Cheren and Bianca. Even if it's dark."

After looking at Snivy's frozen stare, she sighed and set him down on her lap. "Yeah, Mom would kill me."

She sat for a long time, just looking up at the stars in the darkening sky.

It was her first night by herself and already she could feel the weight of a journey taken on her own. She could be honest with herself now that she was alone.

She was scared.

Adventure was all well and good in theory, but all Touko ever really wanted was a Pokémon of her own. Beyond that she hadn't given anything much thought. Being a trainer was such a vague goal if she really thought about it. You battled people, but to what end?

She didn't like to admit it, but that man's speech did get to her. It was easier to just dream at home. Now she was out in the world and people were claiming that the very thing she'd dreamed of her entire life was wrong somehow. Amongst all the other struggles that were still ahead, there was this new weight on her mind that she couldn't just brush off.

It was enough to make her think that she wasn't ready. Why else would she have wasted the day in a town she'd visited about fifty times before?

The world was a scary place. If people weren't even safe at home, what would happen to her…?

"Stop it," she muttered to herself when she felt the tears stinging at her eyes. She pressed her hands to her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down and escape the downward spiral.

She'd been so excited about getting a Pokémon that she'd been able to hide her anxiety from everyone. Even herself.

When she felt ready, she lowered her hands and took a deep breath. Snivy was looking at her with concern, the second emotion she could feel certain about her Pokémon displaying and she smiled at him to let him know she was all right. She received a smile in return.

That was enough to give her courage. It was enough to make it worth it.

She stood up and walked straight on into the Poké Center and gladly accepted their kind offer of a bed.

When she saw the room—more of a hallway, really—she realized it wasn't that bad. A little dark, a little lonely, but better than frightening herself half to death on the route in the middle of the night. There were no other options, because she wouldn't be going home until she accomplished what she wanted.

Whatever that was.

Touko sat on her bed, changed into pajamas and brushing her hair when she remembered that she was supposed to call her mother. She put her things away, and took out her Xtransceiver.

"_Oh, finally. It was getting late, so I wondered if you were ever going to arrive,"_ her mother said from the other side of the screen.

"Sorry, I'm just about to go to bed now," Touko replied, only a little sorry. Considering what her mother put her through the day before, she could squirm a little.

"_Oh? So, you figured out about the Poké Centers? I was afraid you'd be too shy to ask anyone and you wouldn't figure it out. I was going to call you in a few minutes._"

"Your faith in me is really reassuring."

"_Mothers are supposed to fret. Don't take it too personally."_

"Hmph," Touko muttered noncommittally.

Not getting the proper reaction, Touko's mother gained a certain look of determination before switching gears into overly dramatic worry. _"See…right now, I'm imagining my poor little angel getting mauled by Beartic."_

"It's spring," Touko replied flatly. "And Beartic aren't anywhere near this part of Unova."

"_You never know. I've heard of Ursaring that can swim right through a river or climb up a tree in order to get in their daily maulings. Beartic are certainly capable of that."_

"Wait…Ursa-what?"

"_It's a Pokémon that lives outside of Unova, dear. What do they teach you in school these days?"_

Touko ignored the ridiculous implied notion that she or anyone else would ever be able to identify all of the Pokémon in the world; they were discovering new ones all the time. Instead, she asked the much more useful, "What does that have to do with Beartic?"

"_They look close enough,"_ Mrs. White replied with a little shrug, ruining her well-acted part of a distressed mother with her nonchalance. She returned to it just the same. _"Oh my. Now I'm worrying about an Ursaring mauling, too…"_

"I'm sure, I'm fine."

"_I'm sure you are too, with good old Smugleaf to watch you_—"

"Who?"

"_Your Snivy. Professor Juniper told me which Pokémon you chose, though really you should have been the one to say something._"

"'It never came up,'" she quoted her mother with a smirk. "But Smugleaf, eh?"

"_Don't change the subject. Like I said, I'm sure you're fine, but be careful about strangers_."

The word "strangers" brought the earlier events back into her mind. Ghetsis, Team Plasma, and then that strange trainer N. All of her fears following after.

"Hey, Mom, today…"

"_Yes?_"

Touko frowned. She'd already felt enough like a child as it was, what would it really do to go crying to her mother?

"Never mind. I'll tell you later since I'm getting tired."

"…_Well alright then. Be sure to call me from the gym in Striaton._"

"I will, Mom. Good night."

"_Good night, dear_." With that the feed cut off and Touko had to stem off another rush of sadness as her mother's face disappeared.

She didn't want to feel or sound like a baby, but suddenly, this adventure felt pretty lonely. Her friends had run off ahead. Her mom was all the way back in Nuvema Town. All she had was her Pokémon. That should have been enough, but with those Team Plasma people running around, wanting to take them away, the comfort was diminished by the worry that it wouldn't last.

She also had an empty room filled with strangers lurking below, working through the night…which really was much more a point in the favor of loneliness. She almost regretted not sleeping outside.

Touko looked down at Snivy who was staring up at her. "Do you want to go in your Poké Ball for the night?"

Rather than answer, Snivy climbed on the bed and made himself quite comfortable on the pillow.

"Honestly. Where am I supposed to sleep? There are other beds, you know."

But Snivy was already asleep, or perhaps thoroughly ignoring her. Either way didn't matter too much. Touko smiled and laid her head down on the tiny corner of pillow left to her.

"Good night, Smugleaf."

* * *

**Author's Note on Touko:** Characterization for a character that never speaks at all—save for a few yes/no options which _you_ choose—is difficult, because it does not really exist in canon. So, how to make a protagonist that fits in canon without entirely making it up? I don't even know if I accomplished it really. But I like her well enough.

I took a few fanon ideas, like Touko being a tomboy. Official art has her looking quite happy, so she's a reasonably joyful girl. Adaptations seem to go for somewhat the idiot hero thing, so while not making her stupid, I'm also not going to have her be a brain. She gets a competitive will to win from the general Shounen Manga tone these adaptations have. Plus, her love of Pokemon and cooperation, which is in every Pokemon adaptation ever.

Then I made her a little shy so there would be something from the game in there, because she never talks. It's difficult to imagine her being too outgoing because of that. I could have just made her the silent type, but she looks so energetic in her official art, that I can't really imagine that either. It's a difficult compromise. Basically, she's shy, but her emotions usually get the better of her.

So, that's where I started, but as this is a story, hopefully we'll see some character development as well. Tell me so if I fail in this regard.

Now, as for her name…I actually don't have a problem with the name Hilda. I think it grows on you if you actually use it; you gradually forget about the sorta Viking-lady connotation. But even as it grew on me, I decided to use Touko for couple reasons that were already mildly hinted at in the prologue.


	3. Unexpected Meetings

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 5-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously:** With Team Plasma's appearance, Touko finds a strength she never expected. No one can say her only dream is somehow wrong. Yet, Touko can't entirely deny all of her lingering doubts…

* * *

.

**Chapter Three**

_Unexpected Meetings  
_

_._

Touko rose early the next day, got ready, and after a quick stop at the mart, headed straight for Route 2, eager to continue her journey before she could let any fears catch up to her.

With all of her money well-spent, Touko walked confidently through the gate. She'd be able to go straight through to Striaton City and get there by the next day as long as she didn't overwork her Pokémon. She turned to Snivy by her side.

"Alright! I only have 800 left and who knows how long that will last. Now we only have six Potions and ten Poké Balls total. We need money."

Obviously this little talk was more meant for her own benefit, because all Snivy did was stare at her with that look that made her feel a little stupid even when she was being completely sensible.

_Put glasses on him and you might have Cheren the Pokémon_. _Except much cuter._

"So, I have to challenge people in order to get more money. I can do this." She gave a little nod and Snivy took a break from permanent smugness to give a determined nod back. Then she just had to pick him up and give him a hug. This time Snivy didn't make as much of a fuss, better prepared for it.

"Oh gosh, you're so cute! Let's do this!"

It was just as she was about to run onto the route, that her Xtransceiver started ringing.

"Mom?"

"_Touko! How are things?"_

"I was just about to—"

"_Up early, I see. Well, that's good. How are your Pokémon_?"

"Fine, but what—"

"_Good, good. I called because I needed to talk to you, but I'm going to hang up now_." And the feed cut off.

Touko just stared at her Xtransceiver, dumbfounded. "What the…"

"Touko?" A voice came from behind.

"Mom!"

There was Mrs. White, standing on Route 2 in her everyday house-cleaning clothes. Touko looked around and was quite glad that no one else seemed to be in the immediate area. Moms were not supposed to come on Pokémon adventures.

"Good thing I got an early start myself, or else I never would have caught you. Well, actually of course I would, because I have a car and you don't. But never mind that! I have another present for you! Here try these on." She held out a pair of shoe box.

Touko was still dumbfounded by her mother's sudden appearance, but she still managed to take the box and opened it.

It was a pair of sneakers—running shoes—that she'd been wanting. But of course they'd been too expensive and "You can't even wear them to school every day or for softball," her mom had said at the time. A fair point, since until three days ago, her life had consisted almost entirely of those activities.

"I figured you needed a going away present that wasn't a little selfish on my part," her mother informed her with a smile.

"The Town Maps too though…"

"Well, Cheren and Bianca each got one too, that's hardly a real mother-daughter present."

Touko smiled. "Thanks Mom, but why didn't you give them to me before?"

"They arrived late, just this morning. I didn't want to just send them to you. It's not fun if I don't get to see your face. Your expression when I showed up was wonderful as well," she said with her usual playful tone.

"Mom…"

"Oh! Another thing!" Her mother dug around in her bag and pulled out a small sack. "Here's a small meal for you and Snivy. Any other Pokemon you might have as well. Last I heard was three?"

"How did you hear?" Touko asked in alarm.

"Professor Juniper is keeping tabs on your Pokedex, of course!"

"I thought I had to check in."

"There's an awful lot of wi-fi in towns these days, my dear. You can turn off the automatic sync setting if you choose to though."

Touko took out her Pokédex and frowned down at it.

"You can worry about your teenage-required privacy later, Fluff Head. Take your lunch before you forget. You need your strength."

"Thanks," Touko said again as she took the sack. She decided she could ignore her mother's supposed pet-name for the time being, though it had bothered her since she stopped being five. She looked over her shoulder at the route ahead. She was grateful and all, but she was already a little behind…

"I know. Don't let me keep you. I did what I wanted to, now you can run off. You don't have to feel obliged to give me a hug either. I know it's embarrassing in public."

"Sorry, I just…"

"I understand," her mom said, and from the smile on her face, Touko could tell she meant it. After all, she'd been in the same position before.

Then without notice, Mrs. White started running back to the gate and called back over her shoulder, "Now, goodbye dear! You're in my thoughts and all of that wonderful motherly stuff! You too, Smugleaf!" And just as quickly as her mother had appeared, she was gone, back beyond the gate.

"Bye…" Touko said into the empty air. She looked down at Snivy, who seemed to have a bit of confusion over "Smugleaf" but with him it was hard to tell. "How did I not know she was a Trainer? She's a bit too excessively…_her_ to have waited at home."

Recovered from the surprising encounter with her mother, Touko was now able to be positively gleeful over her new present. She put on the shoes. She jumped around and a bit, ran back and forth. _They're so light_ she thought excitedly.

Her boots were now stored in her bag for future use. Now, ready to start over, she turned to Snivy once again and pumped her fist in the air. "Alright, now I'm psyched up. I could run all the way to Nimbasa City like this! What do you say, Snivy?"

Of course, Snivy didn't answer, but the fact that someone spoke at all certainly threw her off.

"I thought you couldn't hear Pokémon…"

She turned around to face yet more suddenly appearing company. It was the strange boy she'd met in Accumula. _Sheesh, is he learning tricks from his Purrloin? I didn't hear him at all…_

"O-oh. Hi…" she greeted in a small voice. "…N, right?"

"Your Pokémon is out of his Poké Ball," he observed without answering the question, looking at Snivy rather than her.

"Well…I figured he might get lonely…you know?" Then because she heard Cheren in her mind telling her that Pokémon were quite happy in their Poké Balls, she said more honestly, "Or at least I was lonely without him."

"And you were talking to him."

Touko laughed quite uneasily, hoping to cover up her embarrassment and knowing she was failing. "Yeah…I mean I can't understand what he might say back…like, mostly, anyway…but I can still _talk_ to him. He's actually a pretty good listener…"

N was silent, instead he crouched down to Snivy's level and looked intently at the Pokémon. Snivy made a few little growls and then N frowned for some reason.

It occurred to Touko that perhaps he was listening to Snivy, though she had her doubts. She wondered if it was rude to ask about it, not really knowing the Pokémon speaking protocols. "Um…c-can you really hear Pokémon?"

"Yes…no one seems to believe me since I started my journey…" N explained easily, not finding it too rude a question apparently. Until he continued, "All of you are really strange."

Touko almost smiled at that. It was quite the odd statement considering the source. Rather than be offended, it sort of relaxed her. She crouched down beside N and Snivy as well. "Yeah, maybe…But that's cool. I wish I could understand Pokémon."

N's face darkened. "I'm sure it would make battling easier."

"No, not for that," Touko said waving the suggestion off. "I just think it would be nice. To really know what my Pokémon are thinking. Then I could help them out with any of their troubles like Snivy's done for me."

The tension in N's face cleared up a bit at that and he turned to her. "Do you really think that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? Battling isn't everything and my Pokémon are like my best friends." She laughed a little to herself. "I guess I have five best friends now then."

N turned back to Snivy and looked thoughtful as he watched the Grass-type Pokémon. It was like he was trying to figure something out.

Touko in turn watched N for a while. He was the something Touko was having trouble figuring out. He'd made her a bit nervous when they first met, but now he seemed quite harmless. Especially since he wasn't hovering over her while they were both so close to the ground. As if Touko didn't have enough problem with strangers, the world had to throw tall strangers at her.

"Speaking of battles, you rushed off earlier and I didn't get the chance to say thanks," Touko said conversationally, a test to figure out the man before her. "It was a fun fight. I think for Snivy, too."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know. A feeling…maybe? Well, I guess you could tell me for sure."

N narrowed his eyes and when he spoke, it wasn't to tell her what Snivy might be thinking. "…Pokémon battles hurt Pokémon. Someday, you'll lose a battle and then will you be sorry?"

Touko frowned; that hadn't been the sort of friendly response she wanted. "That's not—"

But Snivy's disagreement beat Touko's to the finish-line and put a pretty firm stop to her current track of thinking. This is because Snivy's disagreement was accomplished by swatting out at N with a vine.

"S-Snivy!" Touko exclaimed in shock and quickly gathered her companion in her arms, away from N.

It was quickly apparent that Snivy at least held back and only aimed at N's hand. However, there was a red mark visible, so he had been seeking to harm. Even ignoring that, a Pokémon was far more powerful than any human and just the thought was frightening enough. The fact that Snivy was supposed to be a trained Pokémon and was acting without Touko's order was even more so.

"I'm _so_ sorry," she apologized as emphatically as she could manage with her nerves. Right now it felt like her face would be completely red with her shame.

However, N didn't respond, appearing more puzzled than anything as he looked at his hand.

When it seemed she wasn't going to get an acceptance for her apology, really she didn't blame him, she at least tried to venture out again with her sincere concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. He wasn't actually trying to hurt me. He was just making his point."

"What point?"

"…I don't know. He won't say."

_Then don't act like you do._ But she kept her mouth shut, still well aware of her fault.

However, Snivy didn't show any more signs of agitation so she set him down on the ground so she could look him in the eye. "Snivy, you can't do that. Humans are so weak compared to even a little one like you. Do you remember my room? I certainly can't do that!"

Snivy sat down and looked at the ground like a child being scolded. There was a tug in Touko's chest that reminded her of her mother's excuse for not telling Touko about the past. At the very least, it made her respect her mother a lot more for being the strict one.

"You shouldn't punish him."

Touko turned back to N, confusion in her face. "Well, I wouldn't _punish_ him, but…"

"He was just trying to protect you. For whatever reason."

At this, Touko frowned. "Well, that's silly. You weren't doing anything."

"I'm an opponent, though. Wouldn't that be enough?"

"That's not how Pokémon battles work. They're supposed to be fun. Snivy wouldn't be mad about that. Especially since he won, he seems to really like that…"

"Our Pokémon hurt each other and you think that there's nothing bad to come from it? Just because your Pokémon won?"

Touko sighed in exasperation at this latest comment. "_Sheesh_, maybe that's why Snivy did it. Because we had a battle and you're treating it like it was a bad thing. You shouldn't be that kind of loser. I really do want to battle you again."

N glanced at her quickly and looked at Snivy once more; Snivy made a very obvious display of pretending not to notice. N frowned once more before standing up. "Maybe. I'll need more Pokémon first."

That was better. Touko brightened as she stood up as well. "Then it's an almost-plan! But don't forget to train your Purrloin too!"

"…I'll see you down the road," N said, then immediately walked away.

"Oh, bye then…" Touko replied quickly, unsure of what to make of the quick departure.

Unlike her mother, N went forward to Striaton City. It seemed the two trainers were on the same path.

_Still strange…_ she thought as she watched his figure disappear over a hill. But without the lurking shadow of Plasma, he really was harmless.

She looked down at Snivy, who was already looking more chipper, seemingly well aware that Touko was a pushover when it came to this sort of thing and he was safely out of trouble. Since Snivy's victim disapproved of her scolding him, she couldn't really bring herself to prove Snivy wrong either. If she could have anyway.

So, with a resigned sigh, she sat down on a grassy hill with Snivy to eat the lunch (though now it was breakfast) her mom gave her so they could make peace. She let out her other two Pokemon and had just as pleasant a picnic as she might have had with her friends. But she was quite sure Cheren didn't look as cute as Patrat while nibbling on cheese. Bianca, maybe.

When they were done, Patrat and Lillipup went back into their Poké Balls. She wanted to have them all out for company, but she could tell a group was a lot more difficult to keep track of than just Snivy.

As she walked, her worries over how to approach another Trainer started again. Until worries over the fact that she hadn't seen another Trainer took over about a mile down the road.

After more than twenty minutes without seeing another single human being since N, she was getting ready to give up, sit in the middle of the road, and wait for someone to come to _her_ when a voice called out, "I caught your eye! You have to battle me!"

Touko hadn't seen anyone, so she wasn't quite sure how he caught her eye; but she didn't particularly care about the lie since it gave her a battle at last! She whipped around to face her opponent, shyness instantly forgotten for the heat of a battle.

"Awesome! I'll—" She stopped short and frowned. "Oh, wait…you're a kid. I don't battle kids."

"Don't call me a kid!" the kid shouted back a bit louder than necessary. "I'll make you regret it!"

"Hmm…well, I guess I can make an exception for a bratty kid…" She shrugged and motioned for Snivy.

The kid sent out a Patrat. It seemed a little stronger than her own, but it still didn't put up much of a fight against Snivy. And that was his only Pokémon too…

"What? You're too strong!" the kid complained as he handed over a small sum of money. She'd insisted on the bare minimum, since bratty kids were still just kids.

_Or you're too young… _she thought wryly as she watched him head back toward town to heal his Pokémon.

She looked up at the sky and murmured, "That's four for four now I guess? Maybe that's my lucky number today." Then looked down to her Snivy. "Think you're good to go for a while longer? We'll make some more cash and then go back into town to get ready to make the full trip."

Snivy let out his adorable cry to signify a yes. Probably. Now that she knew it might exist, Touko was realizing the ability to understand Pokémon really would be quite useful. Especially with Snivy.

"Alright, but you should probably rest for a while so Lillipup and Patrat get their chance…" She pulled out Snivy's Poké ball, but when he caught sight of the ball, his eyes narrowed. Easy enough to understand.

She crouched down to Snivy's level again. "You know, you're my first, but I have other Pokémon, too," she lectured with a good-natured smile.

Snivy plopped onto the ground. Touko took it as a display of his displeasure and a refusal.

_Why?_ The smile fell off of her face as she looked at her sulking Pokémon.

"Do you…not like your Poké ball?" she asked, afraid of the answer. An answer that Snivy really couldn't give, as he only looked up at her.

Then, he abruptly stood up and pressed the button on his Poké Ball with his tail, entering it without further complaint.

Touko wished she knew how to understand that. Was that his answer? Saying he was just fine by entering it. Or was he just giving in? Because she was a Trainer and he was her Pokémon.

It wasn't fair that Team Plasma had colored all of her thoughts. What could have been a rather mild sigh-inducing act when she started now filled her with doubt. Perhaps, she could just shove aside Team Plasma's rhetoric, but with Snivy's shocking act earlier with N…she was beginning to doubt her worth as a trainer.

However. She was a trainer, so she had to do her best for the moment. And that meant training different Pokémon. So, she took out Lillipup's Poké ball and released him, gaining a rather happy bark in return. He quickly ran off to do some laps around her, getting rid of the extra energy he always seemed to exude. She smiled as she watched him, at least knowing that Lillipup was happy for the moment.

She'd just have to keep trying to make all of them happy as best as she could.

At long last, Lillipup came to an abrupt stop in front of her, looking up at her expectantly. Always one to meet, if not _exceed_, expectations, Touko crouched down to pet her first caught Pokémon. "Nice to really meet you one-on-one 'pup," she told him, and he gave another cute bark in return.

Now with Lillipup by her side she headed down the road, meeting another for a battle before too long. After which point she switched again to Patrat to make things entirely fair.

When it was Snivy's turn again, he didn't seem to be particularly bothered by the incident, but with Touko's lingering doubts on the matter, she couldn't be sure. He certainly didn't cause a fuss when it was time to cycle through again.

Neither Patrat or Lillipup were as strong as Snivy, but that was all the more reason for why she had to do it and she hoped it was something Snivy understood. But just a mile down the road, she'd fought four different people, making her newest lucky number a nice, traditional seven. Plus, she'd collected a rather nice sum of money, but even more importantly, Patrat and Lillipup were making progress. A couple of fights against wild Pokémon when they had to venture through the grass helped there as well.

Lillipup even helped her catch a Purrloin.

Well…to be honest, that part was entirely unplanned. Touko would have left the poor thing alone since it was leaving her alone, but Lillipup had other ideas. Once he saw Purrloin, he took off chasing after her before Touko even knew what was happening. So, that catch was a lot more due to Lillipup than Touko.

"Honestly…" Touko sighed in exasperation as she walked down the route, Lillipup trotting by her side as she held Purrloin in her arms. "It's like you guys are just messing with me on purpose."

As they got farther from town, Touko met less and less people. Around late morning she was starting to figure that she wouldn't see another person until the next day when she got closer to Striaton.

That was when she had the pleasure of seeing Bianca fall right out of the grass into her pathway.

"…Bianca? Shouldn't you be in Striaton City by now?" Touko asked, perhaps less startled than she should have been. Then again, she was certain she could recall a similar situation from just a month ago.

"Oh, hi Touko," Bianca replied, lifting her dust-covered face so she could smile at her friend.

Touko returned the smile with a shake of her head and helped pick her friend up off the ground. Bianca immediately pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off her face, always prepared for these sorts of situations.

Now, with a clean face, Bianca smiled a bit sheepishly. "I got a little lost."

"What about the town map from my mom?"

"I forgot about it for a while…and then it got dark and it didn't do me a lot of good if I couldn't see too well…"

"You should have called me."

"Well, yeah, but…" Bianca trailed off and lowered her gaze.

Touko smiled in understanding. She still wanted to prove herself. But Touko had no such hang-ups, just glad to have her friend with her. She threw her arm around her friend. "Well, now we can travel together. I'm glad you got lost."

Bianca laughed. "Thank you…I guess?"

"You're quite welcome," Touko replied with a laugh of her own.

It was a little emptier without the full trio, but traveling with Bianca was a lot more fun. She loved her Pokémon dearly, but they weren't a replacement for her friends. Plus, all of their Pokémon seemed to get along quite well. Though, Bianca's Lillipup didn't seem to pay any attention to Purrloin at all and was actually quite a sweetheart.

Touko's, on the other hand, had tried to chase Purrloin again when they set up camp for the night. She sent Lillipup into his Poké Ball, which he didn't seem to mind in the slightest when she met him again the next morning.

How could such a cheerful Pokémon get so aggressive with just one Pokémon? Harmless, lazy Purrloin. Actually, Purrloin was a bit difficult, too. When Touko asked her to help fight off a wild Pokémon, Purrloin proceeded to roll around in some warm grass.

Two more things Touko was going to have to investigate about her Pokémon. So far Patrat was the only one that was trouble-free.

"Don't worry. Your Pokémon are spirited!" Bianca comforted her brightly the next day after an incident involving Lillipup chasing shadows until he ran head first into a tree. And then she was quite sure Snivy snickered.

But somehow, they all made it to Striaton City late in the morning and immediately headed for the Poké Center. Touko was down to just one potion and Bianca's stress by the end of the route indicated she was in a similar situation. Luckily, the wild Pokémon didn't seem to be too rambunctious, unlike certain others, and they got their safely without further injury to any of the Pokémon.

"I wonder if Cheren is still in town, or if he already won and left…" she murmured as they wandered the town. She thought about looking for him, but then the gym caught her eye.

Cheren had a good head start. If he had already beaten the gym, he'd get further ahead while she looked for him, but if he hadn't, she'd be able to get ahead of him.

Touko wasn't a vindictive person. _It's only natural to enjoy a little friendly competition between friends. And my record on that front is pretty good so far, no point in wrecking it!_

Bianca caught the competitive gleam in Touko's eye and laughed uneasily. "I'm not ready for the Gym yet…so I think I'll go back and train some more."

Touko nodded absently, eyes still on the Gym. Though she at least waved politely when Bianca left, before she darted for her target…

…Only to be informed by a man at the door that the gym leader wasn't there. He just _might_ be in the training school at that time of day.

She sulked her way down the stairs. _Well, maybe that means Cheren hasn't been able to_ _go to the gym yet either. Plus a training school sounds like a good place to find Cheren if he's still in town too._

Sure enough, right in the first classroom, she found Cheren. "Oh, Touko, you finally made it," he greeted her, and it took a bit of will not to immediately walk right out. She'd settle it in a battle later. "Have you come looking for the Gym Leader?"

"Yeah. Are you here for the same?" she asked, trying to figure where he was on his journey.

"Well, and to hear the lecture. He was here talking about Pokémon types until just a few moments ago…Maybe you walked right past him?"

She frowned. He didn't seem to be mocking her, but it was Cheren, so his usual tone was enough to irk her.

"By the way, will you have a battle with me?"

Whether Cheren _was_ being a jerk or not, this was a good way to make her feel better. "Thought you'd never ask."

"I want to test how important items are in battles," he explained as he pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Cool, just for the record my softball team won the league championship when I was 8."

"What does that mean? Wasn't your league just Accumula and Nuvema anyway?"

"Are we doing this or what?"

Cheren started right off with Tepig. _Good thing I didn't choose Snivy_. She wondered if he had expected her to. "Lillipup, Bite!"

Again, Touko tried to go with straightforward attack, but this was Cheren. And their Pokémon were stronger now, there was more to take into account. It _had_ been going well until Tepig was healed. Then all those tail whips became a real problem.

But Lillipup's bites hit the right place and kept Tepig from attacking back twice. Rather than skill, Touko figured that this victory was owed to a bit of luck. Either that or Lillipup's slightly disconcerting love for biting things.

Cheren switched to his Purrloin and she immediately took the chance to switch to Snivy. Who knows what Lillipup would be like around another purrloin? Snivy was all business and Touko didn't even have to finish her commands before he would follow through. He was able to take his foe out by just attacking with his superior speed and only received minimal injuries.

Snivy sure was something. He knew it too, by the satisfied look on his face.

When it was over, she took a deep breath; somehow she'd started breathing quickly as if she'd been the one fighting. "That one was tough!" she shouted in excitement. "Seems like our starter Pokémon are our toughest."

"Yes, well that makes sense. We've had them the longest and have been training them longest."

"By a day, maybe…" Touko replied with a frown.

"_Plus,"_ Cheren continued emphatically. "Professor Juniper is quite impressive, so naturally she would give us good Pokémon."

"Hmm…I think it's more like a special connection, right Snivy?" Snivy gave her a confident little nod of agreement and then glanced at Cheren with smug disdain, causing Cheren to frown and Touko to laugh.

"Come on, let's get you healed up," she offered to get Snivy away before he could pick any more unforeseen fights for her. She started out, but stopped to look back at Cheren. "Coming?"

"Yeah…just in a minute. I have more studying to do."

Touko shrugged and walked out by herself. She had a gym leader to track down and a badge to win. She'd done enough studying at home. Though, really, Cheren had too…

_What is his deal? Hurrying off one moment, loitering around the next…_

She decided to let the matter fall into the pile of mysteries even best friends couldn't quite figure out. Like the way Bianca could manage to fall flat on her face every week and never once break anything.

When she got back to the gym, a different person was standing on the stairs. Before she could even say anything, he spoke up. "Yes? Yes, I am a Gym Leader of this town. You are…?"

"Touko White, I'm a Pokémon—"

"Trainer. Right. You want to challenge the Gym. In that case…What was the first Pokémon you chose?"

She glanced down at Snivy beside her. "Uh…"

"Snivy…I see. It's weak against Fire-type Pokémon. I think you need to prepare to face that type."

"Well, I have three other Pokémon…"

He looked thoughtful for a few minutes, really watching Touko. She just watched him uncertainly, uncomfortable at the attention.

"Try training your Pokémon in the Dreamyard. Now, please excuse me." And just like that, the unknown Gym Leader left, going back into the Gym.

She stood speechless on the stairs for a few moments. Then she kicked the railing. "But I'm ready now!"

Touko sighed. If the Gym Leader wanted her to train more, what else could she do? He was the Gym Leader. She stopped someone for directions and found the pathway out of town that led to a very dark forest.

"Well, that's not at all ominous…" she grumbled as she started walking through the woods.

It was a short walk before she found herself on the other side, presenting quite a different picture: A clearing in the woods with the late afternoon sun streaming through the tree branches. It would have been a shame about that old looking building, but even that added to the certain _feel_ of the place. Objectively, it wasn't that impressive, but there was a certain fog in the air that seemed to give it a magical quality.

Touko sighed in contentment. Places like this were reason enough to go on this journey. Dreamyard was the perfect name.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by another girl immediately running at her from nowhere and asking for a battle. And then another trainer. And some more. By the time Touko was through, she hadn't the slightest idea what her lucky number might be.

"Maybe I should just default back to three," she mumbled as she walked through the yard. She did enjoy battles; they still got her all worked up, even against kids who didn't know better. She just wanted one peaceful moment with her Pokémon.

Which was silly, because she had a badge to win. But since the light peeking through the trees was getting dimmer and dimmer, there didn't seem to be much chance of that happening tonight.

She stretched and yawned after her last fight. Her Pokémon looked a little stronger, so it really wasn't a waste. She was getting anxious for no reason; impatient, like Cheren. It wasn't like she was less of a good Trainer if she went a little slower than him. Wasn't there a moral about that? "Slow and steady…"

"What do you say we turn in Snivy?" She looked down at her partner. He, in particular, had shone in every fight. He was getting so strong. The others still got hurt a lot more, but Snivy made it through the entire trip without a single healing; though he was looking a bit tired at the moment.

_I need to get some more potions or trips like these in the future could get a lot tougher. I can't take my Pokémon for granted. I need to watch my money for that though…_

She picked up Snivy and started to go back the way she came. "I wonder if Bianca and Cheren want to split the cost for dinner…"

Then she was stopped by another girl. "Hey! What was your first Pokémon?" She was looking particularly anxious.

She turned around with a weak smile. "Sorry, my Pokémon are pretty tired, a battle would probably be a bad idea."

"I don't want to battle. Just let me know what your first Pokémon was."

This seemed utterly suspicious even more so in the dusk. "Snivy…?" she replied motioning to her Pokémon.

"A grass-type! That doesn't do well against fire-type, so Panpour could be a big help!"

"P-probably…"

"Say, do you want this Panpour of mine?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My Panpour! Would you like him?"

Touko frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you want him anymore?"

"Well, I don't really need Panpour anymore. You look like you could use him a lot more. Especially at this gym," the girl answered with a carefree smile.

_That's right, I'm supposed to be fighting against Fire-type, all I've been able to do is train my normal Pokémon since I at least know they're not weak against fire, but…Panpour really would be a help…_

"You don't even know me!" she blurted out, all other reasoning irrelevant.

"So?" The girl tilted her head and looked honestly confused.

Touko narrowed her eyes. Never had she met someone so careless, so absolutely frivolous. And over the life of their Pokémon. "Yes, I'll take Panpour," she finally agreed. _It's better than you having him._

"Ok. Here you go!" And the girl handed over a worn Poké Ball. "You're really helping me out. My mom says I can only take care of one Pokémon while I live in her house. But my friend just said a breeder came into town with a bunch of baby Meowths and I'm just _dying_ to get one. So exotic!"

Touko said nothing in response, only deepening her glare focused on the oblivious girl.

The girl finally seemed to catch the chill sent her way and looked a bit uneasy when she said, "Thanks again. Toodles," and scurried off quite quickly.

Touko looked at the ball in her hand and couldn't help but think of Team Plasma. If they each knew people like the one she'd just met, perhaps their thinking wasn't entirely unreasonable. She wanted to believe in people, but what were the odds that she'd encounter one of the few like that so early in her journey?

Surely there were more…even worse people…

She shook her head. Cheren, Bianca, and her all still outnumbered that one girl. She was being stupid.

But still, she'd seen it happen and now she knew that it was out there…

"This is wrong," she muttered as she kneeled. She set down Snivy beside her and exchanged an uneasy look with him. Then she put the Poké Ball on the ground in front of her, releasing the Pokémon gently.

She smiled at Panpour. It was really quite a cute Pokémon. At first he smiled back, but then looked around for its previous owner.

Touko felt like her heart was being squeezed, but she tried to still smile and look welcoming. She'd heard stories about Pokémon who didn't take to new Trainers, especially weak ones. And without even a single gym badge, Touko must have been as weak as they came.

She took a deep breath.

"Hi, Panpour," she spoke, trying to sound stronger than she felt. "I…I guess I'm your new owner. I hope we can get along from now on…and that you'll lend me your strength."

She stretched out a hand to the Panpour, who only looked at it. Even if she couldn't understand Pokémon, she hoped that they could at least understand her somewhat. It felt that way with Snivy. But as the time stretched on, she started to doubt it.

Or maybe Panpour understood perfectly…and he just didn't want her…

Then, after what felt like hours, Panpour looked uncertainly at Snivy. The grass-type Pokémon feigned some disinterest, but when Panpour made a noise to get his attention, Snivy answered in a few adamant growls that Touko hoped were point in her favor.

Panpour turned back to Touko and put his paw in her hand.

A wide smile burst onto Touko's face and she picked him up, hugging her newest Pokémon in her arms. Then, because she knew Snivy had been responsible somehow, she scooped him up as well. This time he didn't even pretend to be annoyed.

She met both of their now smiling faces with one of her own. "Let's go show off the newest addition to our family."

**XWXWXWXWX**

Touko called her friends up on the Xtransceiver rather than wandering around the city searching for them, it was too late for that and she didn't feel much like sight-seeing anyway. The gym and school seemed to be the only big draws in Striaton.

She waited outside the Poké Center, still holding Panpour. Snivy had eventually gotten tired of being carried—after all he was a strong Pokémon—and had retaken his usual place by her side. Panpour, however, with all he'd been through, was quite fine with being pampered at the moment and was particularly happy that Touko found a certain spot behind his ears.

Cheren arrived first, once again with his own Tepig out and about. Touko really wanted to say something about that, but decided against it for the moment. If she was going to be confined to the same room as him, it would be best if he was in a good mood for as long as possible. Even if it was a large room in the Poké Center that could handle ten trainers at a time.

Just as Cheren was about to get huffy about waiting for Bianca, the girl came trotting down the street, Oshawott by her side as well.

"I brought dinner!" Bianca declared, holding up the always-recognizable pizza box.

"Well, that more than makes up for any wait," Touko said for Cheren and greeted her friend happily.

They had to negotiate the pizza into the boarding room by promising to absolutely clean up any mess they made to the nurse, but they got in just fine in the end. Then after some quick introductions to Touko's newest Pokémon, they sat down, all too happy to eat a good, hot meal after the long day.

"I'm going to do some training first thing in the morning on Route 2," Touko informed her friends in between bites.

"I thought you were looking for the gym leader earlier. Did you lose?" Cheren asked.

"Nah, but because I got Panpour, I think I shouldn't just throw him into a Gym Battle first. I don't even know if his previous owner ever let him get ay exercise! I got the feeling she used him as housepet."

"Really? Panpour is a poor choice for that. They're really most useful to a trainer, specifically in use against fire-types. In the wild, they're pretty rambunctious so I can't imagine keeping on locked up in a house."

"I know, right? That's the excuse she used for handing him off to me. She even asked the exact same question as the gym leader. You have to wonder how many other people she asked too," Touko complained. She probably could have gone on all day about that girl, but she continued with the original topic, "So, I want to get a feeling for Panpour. Snivy and Lillipup seem to be in fairly decent shape, but Patrat and Purrloin are a little bit behind. Especially Purrloin. I'll try to get to the gym in the afternoon after we get some rest."

"How many Pokémon do you have now? Just those five or are there more?"

Touko froze. She had five Pokémon. She could only carry one more. Then she'd have to start using the storage system.

"Looks like you might be doing the best on your Pokédex so far. How many do you have Bianca?"

Unlike Cheren, Bianca knew a little about Touko's plan to take the Pokémon catching slowly.

"_I want to catch all of the Pokémon in the world! Wouldn't that be fun?" Bianca had said._

"_Maybe. I dunno. I just want to catch them one at a time and really get to know them. That way, I won't ever forget them."_

So now, over the dinner table, Bianca asked as delicately as she could, "Didn't you want to try and be slower than that, Touko?"

"I did—I mean I didn't _mean to_. Just…" Touko stopped and went through each Pokémon in her mind: Snivy came from Professor Juniper; then she'd gotten caught up in the competition where she caught both Lillipup and Patrat; Purrloin was from Route 2, after Lillipup had started the fight Touko just couldn't leave her behind hurt afterward; And, of course, there was poor Panpour…

She wouldn't change a single thing or give up any of her dear companions. Just the same, Touko was utterly disappointed in herself. So much for a young Trainer's ideals.

Cheren seemed to catch on somewhat. "It shouldn't be a problem, Touko. You're allowed almost unlimited space to store your Pokémon."

"Cheren," Bianca scolded him immediately, "Touko knows that. Professor Juniper showed us the whole system. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I just didn't want my Pokémon to have to sit in storage. The Poké Balls already must be lonely enough…" Touko explained, eyes on the table.

"But Pokémon are perfectly happy in Poké Balls. You sound like Team Plasma," Cheren informed her callously.

She thought of Panpour again and how she had…_for just a moment_…She stood up from the table, a fierce look on her face. "I do not! Just because I'd miss my Pokémon doesn't mean I want to 'be free' or whatever nonsense! What sense does that make?"

"You didn't say that. You said _they_ would be lonely."

"Maybe I'm worried about them missing me then."

Bianca gave Cheren a warning look, but he continued anyway, "It's still not what you said," earning him a kick beneath the table. He shot a glare back in her direction, but Bianca just looked away, whistling innocently.

Usually, Touko would find this funny, but she stood there glaring at Cheren. Something about him seemed to be setting her off, just like earlier in the school. Since Accumula Town.

Maybe he was just worried and showing it in his unique way, but she couldn't take it right now. Not when he went running off at the first opportunity. He wasn't allowed to worry about her after she'd already been left to deal with things on her own. Hadn't he and Bianca waited for her? Did he think another year went by and she was just magically fine?

Maybe she wasn't being fair. Bianca had left too. But when Touko glanced at her friend and earned a smile in return, she couldn't even try to be mad. Bianca had her family issues; she was trying to prove herself. What excuse did Cheren have?

Somewhere, Touko knew she wasn't being fair. How could she be mad at Cheren for something he didn't even realize he was doing?

But at the moment, she didn't really care.

"I'm going to bed," she informed them and headed for the bed in the farthest corner.

"But you didn't even finish your dinner," Bianca reminded her. "Or brush your teeth. Or…"

"I'll just do it in the morning," Touko replied irritably and she stuffed herself as angrily as she could manage underneath the covers.

So, Touko laid in the completely lit room at 8pm, which hadn't been anyone's bedtime since kindergarten. However, this was the only way to get some solitude after she finally got to spend time with her friends. What a great thing that turned out to be.

Her friends ate the rest of dinner in almost complete silence and prepared for bed after as well. Even though it was way too early for everyone.

Touko had been waiting for a fight to erupt between Bianca and Cheren all this time…who would have thought that she'd be the one to screw things up?

At least Touko was certain she was the one feeling the worst about the situation, staying up long past her friends, just staring at the ceiling.

Only to Striaton City and already nothing was working out the way she wanted.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter got so out of control with last-minute changes. I had to add some things for better development, which explains why it's late, but gosh. This just proves the need for a schedule-change I'm about to explain. It was pointed out to me that because my chapters are so long, such frequent updates aren't really to anyone's benefit. The schedule has now been changed to a five-day cycle instead of the rigid Tuesday/Friday setup. I am adding the schedule to the info included at the top of each chapter.

Now, I want to say something important to my readers. I'm talking about reviews, but don't anyone take this as a plea or a guilt-trip. I am not entitled to anything just because you read my story. I put it out there with no expectations, what I've gotten back is already wonderful.

What I want to say is I treasure each reader and reviewer and if anyone has any advice or criticism I will gladly accept it. I may not always follow it, but I will certainly take it into consideration and be grateful for it.

The reason I mention this is because I had an upsetting encounter with a writer when I posted a review. I've always been shy about reviewing. I never feel like I can give the comprehensive review I know a writer deserves. I know I would hate it if this stopped anyone from reviewing me and how much a review can mean, so I've been trying to get past it.

I also know that not everyone likes criticism, a new writer can be very sensitive, and so I try to be respectful of that. Perhaps I was a bit abrupt in this review, offering too little praise in ratio to my criticism; the writer certainly thought I was insulting them, which I'm very sorry for. However, the response I got was a rant in how my criticism was entirely unfounded and they ultimately brushed off my criticism by saying, "there are far worse." I don't understand that. Explaining your disagreement sure, but how can you just shoot a reader down like that? It seemed to be a misunderstanding, but the attitude expressed just ruined the story for me.

That's why I want people to know, if anyone has ever gotten a response like that, please know that I won't do that to you. I will always give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're trying to be helpful. I know that criticism is not an insult. You're putting in the effort to help me and that means very much. I wouldn't dare complain about that.


	4. The First Test

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 5-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously:** After taking in Panpour, left to her by a careless owner, Touko finds herself wondering about Team Plasma. But when a similarity in their ideals is pointed out by Cheren, Touko denies it and gives in to her unfair anger with Cheren. Having ruined the camaraderie she so desperately craved, Touko lies awake on the eve of her first gym challenge…

* * *

.

**Chapter Four**

_The First Test_

.

Touko wasn't sure what time she finally ended up falling sleep, but when she woke up she knew it was a lot later than she intended to sleep. She was alone. Even sleepy-headed Bianca had gotten up first.

Even more surprising was that Bianca had left without talking to her. It was pretty obvious that Touko wasn't getting along too well with Cheren at the moment, but she hadn't thought Bianca would leave too.

_Of course, I sort of snapped at her too…_

She looked at Snivy and Panpour who were sitting in the corner, both awake, but still sleepily cuddled together. What an odd picture, a water and grass-type Pokémon. Perhaps not as odd as if either had been fire…In fact, outside of a battle, water and grass worked well together.

"Well, I hope you guys at least still like me," she muttered with a half-smile. Seeing that she was awake, they both got up and padded along over to her, which was enough of an answer for her.

Touko got out of her bed and started to stretch. She was already regretting not listening to Bianca's motherly comment about brushing her teeth. She felt like her breath would make even a Trubbish faint away. She'd also fallen asleep without adjusting her thick ponytail, so she was quite sure her hair resembled a partially squashed nest of some sort.

And her clothes…she'd slept in her clothes. That meant she was down to the spares.

With the damage assessed, Touko started gathering her things for a long trip to the washroom.

"Good morning~!" Bianca's happy sing-song voice called out as she flung open the door. "Oh good you're up. I bought some breakfast for us." She lifted up another take out bag. Oshawott was outside his Poké Ball and also lifted up a couple of cups. Bianca giggled, "Oshawott helped."

"D-Didn't you leave?" Touko stammered stupidly, her face a little red.

"Just to get breakfast," Bianca explained with a shrug as she set the breakfast out on their little table.

Touko stood in the center of the room, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry about last night."

"It's fine, it's fine," Bianca brushed it off cheerfully. "You were just mad about Panpour's owner, right?"

Touko's brow knitted, in pain, for a moment. That was certainly part of it, but… "Yeah, but it's no excuse."

"It's alright. Cheren is probably feeling silly over the fight and that's why he left. He can be rude sometimes, but he usually realizes if he goes too far. Though it's rare that he picks on _you_ so much…" Bianca babbled on, finishing with a small pout.

_So Cheren really did leave_, Touko thought, biting her lip. She picked up her bag and motioned to the door. "I'm just going to clean up."

"Alright, I'll be waiting!" Bianca replied, all smiles again. Touko managed a weak smile in return before heading to the bathroom. Hopefully the hot shower would calm her down a little.

How long had she even been traveling? Five days? Touko wasn't quite sure what she was getting so worked up over all the time. With everything happening, it just felt like time was flying by and she was already getting left behind.

It really started when she encountered Team Plasma. She knew at the beginning that Team Plasma was wrong, perhaps well-intentioned, but wrong. Despite what Cheren thought, she hadn't changed her mind about that.

The problem was, now that she saw the problems they were talking about truly existed, she knew they weren't going to go away. She hadn't seen the last of Team Plasma.

Touko sighed as she turned off the shower and stepped out in a towel. Less than a week and she had five Pokémon and about a hundred problems. _At least I know how to battle my hair,_ she thought as she looked at her already frizzing wet hair in the mirror.

She tugged a brush through her tangled locks and locked it up tightly in a towel to dry. If she didn't do this quickly each time she got out of the shower, her hair would stop looking so much like hair, and a lot more like a Tangela.

She threw on her spare pair of clothing—a pair of gym shorts and a tee-shirt—and cursed her light packing. She'd just find a cleaners later that day. Right now, she was focused on training and going to the gym so she could go find Cheren quickly. Just calling him on the Xtransceiver didn't seem the proper way to apologize.

"Ah! Gym clothes, because you're going to the gym today, right?" Bianca asked with a laugh when Touko walked back into the room.

"That and I slept in my normal clothes, I guess…" Touko replied with a wry smile.

"Oh…well, I brought you some coffee since you wanted to head out. I've never been allowed to have coffee before…" The happy-go-lucky friend continued undeterred.

Bianca picked up her cup and gave it a sniff. "Mmm…it smells wonderful," she said with a tranquil sigh. Then she actually took a drink and her eyes widened; she swallowed, but looked like she'd rather spit it out. "Blech! It's too bitter."

Touko chuckled as she sat down to her own breakfast. "You probably didn't put enough cream and sugar in. That's what my mom says beginners need to do." Touko picked up her own cup and took a sip, her own face souring immediately as well. She stuck her tongue out and winced as she set it down. "Egh…it really is bad…"

"See! I told you."

The two girls burst out into laughter together, fixing the tone for a pleasant and happy breakfast.

After they finished up Bianca decided to tag along with Touko to Route 2, which Touko pretended did not make her extraordinarily happy and just shrugged off. Though there was a spring in her step as they left the Poké Center.

"I wish it was summer already," Touko complained as she stretched out by the end of Route 2. "If there was just a little more day time, I could get more done."

Behind Touko, both Snivy and Panpour seemed to be mimicking their owner, which was quite amusingly distracting to Bianca who giggled rather than answer her friend. She too had taken to having Oshawott outside of his Poké Ball when possible and was currently holding him in her arms.

Touko raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions. And together the two trainers set their Pokémon off to train. Laughing and joking along the way. As Touko thought, it was more fun with someone else there. This is what she had always imagined her Pokémon journey would be like…well, if Cheren were there too.

By the time they were done, Touko had accomplished her goals. Patrat had caught up a little and Panpour, who seemed slightly hesitant at first, had been quite comfortable in his last practice battle with Bianca's Oshawott. Purrloin also wasn't as completely adverse to battling. At least she had knocked Lillipup back the last time he tried to bother her while she lounged in the shade.

Bianca, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling a bit. Touko wasn't quite sure if it was her innate clumsiness that passed onto her Pokémon a little bit, but she didn't seem quite as good as she had the times she had battled Touko. She seemed especially nervous when she had to battle a wild Pokémon.

_Is she scared?_ Touko wondered as they walked back into the city. She wanted to ask if Bianca was all right, but somehow felt it might make the problem worse. Bianca was just now learning to stand on her own without her parents. Touko didn't want to just end up taking their place.

"I'm going to the Poké Center to get ready and then go to the gym, how about you?" she asked instead when they reached the middle of the city.

"I'll come with you!" Bianca replied enthusiastically.

Touko looked skeptical. Bianca probably wasn't ready for a fight like that.

Luckily, Bianca seemed to quickly catch onto Touko's thinking without her having to say it out loud. "I'm not going to fight at the gym. I just want to cheer you on! If they let me, anyway, ya know?"

"Oh…okay then." Touko looked sheepish. She gave a small cough and gestured down the street that lead to the Center. "Well then let's go."

"On it! Go Team Touko!" Bianca cried out as she jogged down the street.

Touko felt her cheeks reddening, but decided to let it go for now. She was heading into her first Gym Battle, her first true test as a Trainer, and to be honest she didn't really mind the encouragement.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Touko and Bianca stood inside the entryway of the Gym. This time there had been no one waiting outside blocking the way. Touko had a feeling they were expecting her.

But as she looked around, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. True, the building didn't look like much of a gym from outside. It had looked like another really nice building, not too dissimilar from the others in Striaton. But she hadn't expected a _restaurant_ when she went inside.

"How cute…" Bianca murmured as she looked around. "Hey, Touko! We can eat right after you win! Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah, that's…useful. Maybe not _cool_, but useful…"

It seemed to be okay that Bianca was coming with her. Especially since Touko informed the cashier (_the cashier_!) at the front that she'd just tell her friend everything that happened anyway.

They had to walk through a series of curtains by stepping on the tile picturing the element that the curtain's picture would be weak against. Though Touko couldn't help but wonder if they couldn't just step through them, seeing that they were curtains. Then Touko was challenged by a couple of Trainers after the initial confusion over which girl they were supposed to challenge ("Oshawott and I are just cheerleaders! Team Touko!" Bianca had informed each with a proper cheerleading pose).

The challengers had been a waitress and a waiter respectively. She remembered that her mom had been in their position at one point and although it would continue the mystery, she sort of hoped that it wasn't at that particular gym. More embarrassingly, the two had been rather difficult fights. Perhaps it was rude to judge based on appearances, but Touko felt that she'd rather not ever lose to someone carrying a platter.

At last, Touko arrived at the back of the gym where the true battlefield lay and found herself facing not just the young man from the stairs, but two more as well.

"Welcome to the Striaton City Gym," the familiar green-haired one said.

"I'm Chili! I light things up with Fire-type Pokémon!" the vibrant redhead informed her.

"I'm a Water-type specialist and my name is Cress. Please to make your acquaintance," the third, a young man with blue hair said.

"And my name is Cilan. I like Grass-type Pokémon," the first spoke again. Then he began to look a little unsure. "Um you see, as for they the three of us, um, are al here is well, er…"

_What's his problem? He seemed fine before_… Touko frowned, forgetting the fact that she really wasn't in the position to judge someone else's troubles with speaking. She had yet to say a single word since she'd walked through the first curtain. Even now, she felt as if she were shaking a bit, though that could be either nerves _or_ excitement over this first Leader Battle.

"Oh, enough! Listen up!" Chili interrupted. "The three of us will decide whom you'll battle."

"Isn't it you, though?" Bianca piped up suddenly from the side.

"What?" Chili turned to Bianca. "Who are you?"

"I'm Touko's cheerleader," Bianca replied and did a quicker version of her pose. "But one of you earlier told Touko that she should prepare fight Fire-type, since that's what Snivy is weak against."

Cilan cleared his throat and looked quite uncomfortable as the other two glared at him.

"Oh, but a girl Touko met told her the same thing, so you shouldn't blame him. She would have found out anyway," Bianca added quickly.

Letting Cilan off the hook, the three conferred quickly, then shuffled positions, looking a bit put-out.

Chili stepped forward with a frown. "The Fire-type scorcher Chili—that's me—will be your opponent," he informed her with all the excitement of reading a sign off the street aloud. It seemed they usually put a bit more into it.

Touko glanced back at Bianca who just shrugged with a smile. She seemed to be enjoying the show regardless of the presentation.

"YEEEOW!"

Touko whipped back around to face Chili, who seemed to have regained his…spark.

"Time to play with FIRE!" he shouted with no shame over the pun and pulled out his first Poké Ball. "I'm strongest of us brothers!"

At the challenge she could feel her anxiety fall away and her face settled into grim determination. She could do this. She pulled out Panpour's Poké Ball.

But then his first Pokémon was a Lillipup, which got Touko a little panicked. Wasn't he a fire-type specialist? If she'd known she would have sent out Snivy after all. What if Panpour got too hurt to fight his next Pokémon?

"Do your best, Panpour!" she called out before ordering him to use Water Gun. Even if Lillipup wasn't weak against it, it still seemed to be her Panpour's best attack.

"Hey, that's my job," Bianca complained lightly. "Go, go Panpour!"

"As if that would work on my Pokémon," Chili replied smugly after it seemed to do little damage.

_It would do a heck of a lot against your fire-type that's for sure!_ Touko frowned and switched it up to a Scratch.

Luckily Panpour was doing better at dodging; he was able to outlast Lillipup who finally fell to a strong burst of Water Gun.

"It's not over yet! One more left! This is where I give it my all!" Chili declared as he sent out Pansear.

_Pansear, Pansage, and Panpour must be the three Pokémon the brothers used,_ Touko realized. Aside from being Fire-type, which worked in their advantage, there shouldn't be any nasty surprises for Panpour. Except that Pansear was a gym leader's Pokémon, he was sure to be strong.

Touko shook the uncertainty from her mind. "Alright! Now that it's Pansear, we can do this Panpour! Keep using Water Gun!"

Chili used Work Up to try and make up for the type disadvantage, but when Panpour's attack hit, a lot of damage was done.

"Keep at it, Panpour!"

After Panpour's attack, Pansear retaliated with Incinerate. Despite it being a fire attack, weakened Panpour didn't do well with the attack.

Pansear was already looking weak, about ready to fall over, but so was Panpour now. She could call him back in, but Pansear seemed strong. How well would her other Pokémon hold up if she gave him a chance to recover by taking Panpour out? Fire would absolutely destroy Snivy, and she realized now that even with the training, her others were far below Pansear in strength.

She decided to put her faith in her newest Pokémon. "Hang in there, Panpour! Just one more time!"

Panpour was looking a little drowsy, he stumbled a bit before shooting off the stream of water, missing Pansear entirely.

Chili took the moment to have Pansear get Worked Up again. With the strength increase, Panpour probably couldn't take another burn.

"Panpour! You can do it!" Touko shouted her encouragement. _Please don't faint._ She hadn't seen a single of her Pokémon faint so far. It would be terrible to let down her newest one first. Especially against a weaker type.

And when Panpour attacked again, this time the jet of water directly hit its mark, knocking Pansear over.

Touko stood rigid and still as she waited to see if Pansear would get up. Had she won or would Pansear come back and finish off Panpour?

"You got me." Chili hung his head dramatically. "I am…burned out…"

"R-really?" Touko squeaked in glee. She raced onto the field, picked up Panpour and started spinning around, laughing happily. She looked over to Bianca, who had forgotten all about cheering duties in the tense battle. "I did it, Bianca!"

"I saw, I saw!" Bianca cried back, jumping up and down, then racing onto the field herself. She threw herself at Touko while holding Oshawott, making a nice group hug of Water Pokémon and Nuvema Town trainers.

"Whoa ho! You were on fire!" Chili shouted, getting their attention back. Touko just smiled at the fire pun; now that she wasn't nervous it made her giggle.

He stepped off of his own platform in the gym and walked toward her. "Well, it's the Pokémon League's rule. Take this Gym Badge." And he placed the Trio Badge into Touko's waiting hand.

She looked down at it in amazement. _My first badge…_

"The first of many, right, Touko?" Bianca said with a wide grin.

Touko looked at Bianca and smiled shyly, giving a little nod. Right now, she felt so overwhelmed she didn't think she could even manage to speak to Bianca.

This meant something. Some solid evidence that she wasn't a bad trainer. Her fears might not fade that easily, but it certainly helped.

Then, her eyes drifted over to the first Leader she had spoken to…Cilan, was it? Who appeared to be smiling in some satisfaction when he looked at her Panpour.

"The Dreamyard…" she murmured, than suddenly, she stood upright, with wide eyes. "Ah! You knew about the Panpour, didn't you?"

"E-excuse me?" Cilan stammered, giving himself away immediately.

"That's why you sent me there…" Then Touko suddenly remembered herself and looked back down. "Thank you. Not from me so much, but Panpour. His owner…"

"No problem…" Cilan looked back at his two brothers, who seemed to be catching onto Touko's meaning.

Realizing the mess she made, Touko gave one more nod of thanks and quickly made her escape with Bianca. Just out of the gym though. They really did stop to eat at the restaurant, because why not?

But even after all of that, Touko was still transfixed by her first Badge on the way out; the Trio Badge. She could hardly believe it, despite all of the witnesses who could reassure her. She placed it into license case, which made it seem a little more real, more official. Then she ran her finger over the empty spot next to it. Nacrene Gym was next; the Basic Badge.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Bianca asked as they walked aimlessly down the street.

"Hmm?" Touko looked up from her badge. "Oh! Uh…the Poké Center is probably a good idea. Panpour got some rest at the restaurant, but he'll probably need actually healing for those burns. I know he'll heal faster as a water-type, but—"

"No, I know all of that, silly. I meant tomorrow," Bianca interrupted. "Unless you're planning on leaving tonight?"

Touko looked at her friend in disbelief. "In the _dark_?"

"So, then tomorrow you'll start down Route 3 for Nacrene, right?"

"Well, it's finally a longer route, so it should take me _at least_ a few days to get there. And that's if I leave early tomorrow. _I think_…" Touko tried doing the calculations in her head, but math and she had never quite gotten along. She frowned when she multiplied eight and twenty-four. That couldn't even be close to what she wanted so she gave up for the moment.

"I don't really know, but I guess I probably should." She glanced at Bianca, wondering if it was really right to leave her behind, considering how much she'd begrudged it in Accumula Town.

Bianca stopped walking and put on her toughest face, which really just looked silly to Touko. "Then I'll have to do my best so I can catch up with you and Cheren. I already saw what I'm in for, so I'm sure I can do it." She smiled and gave Touko a V-sign.

Touko returned the gesture with a wink. "Do your best. Make Nuvema Town proud."

"Of course!"

The girls were laughing as they returned to walking down the street, when a voice came from behind. "Excuse me? Did you say Nuvema Town?"

Bianca turned around first, used to being the one to speak for Touko when they were together. "Yes?"

Touko turned around to see a pretty young woman in a lab coat. _Isn't she a little young to be a scientist or whatever?_

"Then you must be Bianca and Touko. Excellent!" The woman continued on before they gave confirmation. "Professor Juniper asked me to give you something. Please follow me!" Once again, without bothering for a response, the woman started walking down the street.

Bianca and Touko exchanged glances. Touko shrugged and they followed along. It wasn't too far of a walk until the came to what looked like an ordinary building.

"Are you Fennel, by any chance?" Bianca asked once they were inside.

"Oh! I never did introduce myself. Sorry, sorry. So much has been happening lately. And you two are working on completing the Pokédexes for Unova, am I right? Stairs are right over here." And she disappeared up the stairs.

Bianca followed along immediately; it probably wasn't too difficult for someone like her to go along with her flow. Touko was a bit more hesitant, noting to herself that probably-Fennel never really had confirmed that was who she really was.

She motioned to the table, where there were actually cushions waiting for their Pokémon as well as chairs for them, which did a lot in Fennel's favor for Touko. She hurried around, getting tea from a pot that seemed to be waiting just for the two of them.

She smiled as she set two mismatched cups in front of them. "I hope you don't mind it plain. All of my milk and sugar seems to have run off while I've been busy," she said with a lilting little laugh.

"Oh, that's all right. I've tried coffee now!" Bianca answered with a confident nod.

"Well, you can handle anything then," Fennel replied, playing along. She turned her attention to her other guest. "And you, Touko?"

Touko didn't answer for a while, until she realized Fennel was actually waiting for her to do so this time. "Oh, it's fine," she answered quietly.

"Excellent." Then she made herself comfortable in her own seat with her own cup. "So, like I said, I'm Fennel, and as you can see I'm a scientist."

Touko kept silent over the small detail that Fennel never really had said anything of that nature and just nodded politely.

"In fact, the subject I'm researching is trainers!"

"Ehh? That's pretty rare, isn't it?" Bianca asked in amazement.

"Indeed. In this Pokéworld it's quite a lonely field. Which is why I'm quite so busy, you see! I have to grab colleagues from other specialties when I need help. Like, Professor Juniper. She's my friend from college."

Touko choked on her tea at that last tidbit of information.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Fennel asked, looking quite concerned.

"F-fine, please continue," Touko said hurriedly. She couldn't possibly say what had been thinking. She knew Juniper wasn't even close to an old woman, but she wasn't quite sure the story would relate back to her without that connotation.

"Anyway, as a good colleague, I'm returning the favor. She asked me to help you guys. So! I'll give you something to help out. An HM, you do know what that is, right?"

Both girls nodded, it had been one of the things Cheren had lectured them on in the days leading up to their journey.

"Excellent, this one is Cut, so it should be quite helpful in all sort of places! Like to cut down a small tree!"

"Coool~!" Bianca exclaimed enthusiastically as she took hers and immediately started looking it over. "I'm glad I got this before my Gym battle!"

"And I'd like to ask you a favor, too!"

"Of course, we'll do anything as thanks, right Touko?"

Touko looked up at Bianca, frowning slightly. This probably meant she was going to spend more time here, but considering the gift it _was_ only fair. She glanced at Fennel, and though it might have been a trick of the light, she thought she saw a sly little gleam in her eye. Maybe that was the entire purpose of the gift.

Still, a gift was a gift, so Touko agreed.

"Wonderful! There is a place called the Dreamyard on the outskirts of the city…"

_Where horrible little brats give away their Pokémon._

"…I'd like some of the Dream Mist that a Pokémon there called Munna gives off."

"Oh! Did you say Munna?" Bianca asked excitedly. "I love Munna! I've always wanted one."

"What a wonderful coincidence then! I hope you don't mind, Touko."

Touko stiffened, shocked to be brought back into the conversation so suddenly again. She realized she was still frowning and smiled quickly. "S-sorry! I don't mind at all. I'm just distracted."

"Touko won her first Gym Battle today," Bianca informed Fennel as proudly as if it had been her own victory.

"Then you two should hurry along so that Touko can head off to Nacrene City next."

"Sure thing, we'll do it first thing in the morning!"

"One more thing, if that's all right," Fennel stopped them as they were standing up. "I don't suppose either of you know where your other friend is."

The two girls sighed in unison. With an exchanged look, it went to Bianca to explain, "Cheren already headed off to Nacrene. He's so impatient about 'getting stronger' and all that."

"I see…" Fennel said with a sigh of her own. "…Then I'll just have to catch up with him later. I suppose I'll ask a different favor of him. Professor Juniper said he was quite smart, so I wouldn't mind getting inside his head…"

Even Bianca looked a bit alarmed at that statement. She glanced at Touko and mouthed, "Is she serious?" But Touko just shrugged. Bianca laughed uneasily and began inching her way to the door. "Well, we'll be on our way out then."

"Mmm…" Fennel seemed scarcely aware of their presence now.

The two kept up a steady pace all the way out the front door, where Bianca let out a deep breath once the door shut behind them. "She's a little weird," she whispered to Touko.

"She's a scientist. It probably comes with the degree," Touko replied as she skipped down the stairs. "Come on, I want to get to the Poké Center and to sleep before it gets too late."

"Coming~!" Bianca padded along behind her.

As they walked down the street, Touko couldn't help but think about the Dream Mist and wonder what sort of experiments Fennel was using it for. Although Fennel seemed a little flighty, she was sure she was quite harmless.

_I wonder if it only shows the good dreams,_ Touko thought as she looked up at the starry sky. It had been quite some time since she dreamed at all. Even longer since they'd been pleasant. Over two years. So, she wished a little, that she might have a good one that night.

Bianca seemed to note her silence. "What are you thinking about?"

"What do you dream about, Bianca?"

"Hmm…well, last night I had a dream that I was trying to catch a banana in my Poké Ball, but he was just too fast for me. So, I chased him all the way—"

"Sorry, I mean, what do you want to dream about? Like your hopes and wishes?"

"Let's see…" Bianca looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she grimaced before answering. "My father…saying he's proud of how strong I've become."

Touko was surprised at the honesty. "I'm sure that dream at least, you can make come true someday."

Bianca smiled weakly. "Yeah, maybe." And they were walking in silence. Bianca didn't return the question, probably because she knew the answer.

Touko would want a dream where she talked to everyone easily, she didn't get into silly fights with Cheren, and most importantly, no one abandoned their Pokémon. But really she wanted a dream where she could see her dad again.

She smiled sadly and looked at the sky again. "It would be nice to dream at least, right?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

**Author's Note on Battles: **The absolute hardest part about writing Pokémon fanfic in my opinion. In the game, it's just your turn/my turn until someone faints. Rarely does a Pokémon miss or dodge unless you're doing some stat changing. It does not adapt into a logical world.

Now we can imagine it works a whole lot like the battle between Mei and Cheren in the B2W2 animated trailer (awesome, btw). But I've never been great at writing action scenes, and you can't put the same level of detail into writing as you can in a drawing or animation. It can have the opposite effect and get boring. There's a reason a picture is worth a thousand words…

So, basically, this is a weakness. Perhaps I'm shooting myself in the foot by pointing it out and now you're all going to talk about how awful I am, but I like to note what I need to focus on. I have time to improve since I'll be cutting back on depicting battles from now on. I'll just be doing the important plot and character developing ones. Which means it's important for those ones to be good.


	5. What Waits in the Fog

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 5-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously:** Touko won her first badge thanks to her newest Pokémon, Panpour. Afterwards, she and Bianca meet Professor Juniper's colleague, Fennel, sending them to the Dreamyard the next day…

* * *

.

**Chapter Five**

_What Waits in the Fog_

.

The next day, Touko and Bianca woke early so Touko could get started on Route 3 and Bianca would have time to train for her own gym battle. After a very quick breakfast, they rushed off to the edge of the city, so by the time it was 7AM, the two girls, and their two starter Pokémon stood in the forest clearing known as the Dreamyard.

Touko walked with purpose, eyes alert as they searched through the thick early-morning fog. She'd been there the day before and had gone to every accessibly inch of the yard, looking for more people to train with. That left only one area where Munna could be hiding, which was blocked off by a tree. A tree that Panpour had helpfully learned to cut down thanks to the HM Fennel gave each of them. It seemed that even Fennel's generous gift was part of the plan.

Panpour went right to work once he was out of the ball. With one slice of his claws, the tree was in half and the two girls could climb right over the stump.

"Good work, Panpour," Touko praised before putting him back into his Ball. She didn't want too many Pokémon wandering around. After Lillipup's encounter with Purrloin, she wanted to be sure no one would scare off Munna.

As they explored the fenced in area, Bianca spoke, "I'm just really, really wondering how showing dreams works…"

"You and me both," Touko replied. "I guess you've never seen a Munna before or Musharna anything?"

"Oh no! I wish I have, though!"

Touko smiled in response. Every girl had a dream Pokémon when they were little, probably every little boy too. Touko could remember vividly a summer she spent running around, pretending she was a Zebstrika.

In fact, Zebstrika had been her absolute favorite Pokémon long after that. It probably still would have been if things hadn't gone wrong.

She smiled sadly. But at least most of the memories were fun, running around at the edge of the forest around town. Now that she thought about it, she could remember Bianca trying to figure out how to float like Munna so she could play as well.

It looked like Munna was still Bianca's dream Pokémon.

Just then, beyond the wall, they heard a strange sound.

"Hey! Did you hear that?" Bianca called out in a loud whisper. "Come on, let's go see!"

The two girls raced inside to find the rumored Munna. Bianca had to stifle her squeals of glee since they were trying not to scare it, and instead took to tugging repeatedly on Touko's arm.

Even with the precaution, Munna floated off when it saw them approaching.

"Oh! Wait!" Bianca cried, forgetting all about being quiet. She chased it around the corner faster than Touko could follow so early in the morning.

Get Bianca properly motivated and she could even beat Touko in running. Who knew?

"Wh-what are you doing here! Go away!" Bianca's voice cried out in distress.

_That_ was Touko's proper motivation. She ran toward the sound of Bianca's voice as fast as lightening.

"Bianca!" she called out as her friend's back came into view.

"Touko! They have Munna!"

Touko stopped short when she caught sight an unfamiliar man and woman; though the uniforms they wore were very familiar to her. "You—!"

The man had grabbed Munna and was holding it far more roughly than necessary.

"Wh-Who are you?" Bianca asked, her voice shaking.

Touko stood in front of her friend and answered for their opponents, "They're Team Plasma…and a bunch of hypocrites, obviously. Let go of that Munna! Can't you see you're hurting it!"

"Unfortunately for you, you can't add this Munna to your collection of slaves," the woman informed them smugly, "because Team Plasma has need of this Pokémon's services."

"What could _Team Plasma_ possibly want to _use_ a Pokémon for? I thought you guys were against that. Along with having Pokémon to begin with. _Pokémon Liberation_ and all."

"We're going to use it to the Dream Mist to make people want to release their Pokémon…" the man informed them. "We'll show them dreams to manipulate their hearts. And those that don't listen will get a dose of Nightmare Mist!"

"Nightmare…?" Touko blinked in confusion.

The woman elbowed her companion. "You're saying too much, idiot! It's not even approved yet." She motioned to a hole in the wall. "You better get that Munna back to the hideout and the Sage. I'll take care of the kids."

The man rubbed his ribs with his free hand, but then did as he was told, rushing through the hole in the wall.

Touko glared at the retreat, but she couldn't just go after him and leave Bianca with his partner. "Bianca, go get help! Fennel or somebody…"

"But—!"

"I have more Pokémon than you; I'll be fine. But it'll be better if you get help, so go!"

Bianca looked hesitant, but gave her friend a nod and took off back into the city.

"My, my, what a brave little twerp," the woman mocked as she held up a Poké Ball.

"You guys _carry_ Pokémon around too?" Touko asked in disgust. "What about your ideals?"

"You can't change the world without force, sweetheart. And today I'll start by taking away your Pokémon!" she declared as she sent out Patrat.

Instead of attacking her Snivy, the Patrat immediately dived at Touko, claws out. Startled, she barely had time to cover her face from the blow, but it never came; Snivy ensnared the Patrat in vines before it ever reached her, a fierce look on his face.

It seemed there were no rules of conduct for these folks from Team Plasma.

"Thanks Snivy," she smiled at her partner and stood up straight with regained confidence. "Alright, now I'll show you the strength of a real trainer's bond with their Pokémon. Snivy! Let him go for a new Vine Whip!"

The tide of battle was easily on Touko's side and blow after blow caused the Patrat to faint before he even got a hit.

"I'm not done yet! You'll stand no chance against Purrloin!"

"I beg to differ! My Striaton Gym champion Panpour will wash you away!" Touko replied, her confidence at an all-time high. She was starting to get the appeal of the puns now; it sort of made her feel like a hero from cartoons she used to watch.

She recalled Snivy back into his ball and sent out Panpour as promised. Even if Plasma didn't play by the rules, it didn't mean Touko would stoop to their level.

Her strategy remained the same: Attack, alternating between the forceful Water Gun and the new slashing Cut. It as all she needed against someone so inept and the sheer strength of her trained Pokémon won out in the end.

As Purrloin fell, the woman gritted her teeth. "I can't believe I lost…to a kid," she stated in angered disbelief.

"Yup, just little fifteen-year-old me," Touko replied with a satisfied smirk. "Now, it's the end for you. I knew something was wrong about Team Plasma, now everyone else will too."

As the woman stepped back, inching toward the hole in the wall.

"You're not going anywhere!" Touko immediately sent Snivy back out. "Wrap her up in vines so she can't escape!"

"Sorry, but I don't think we'd like that today," a voice came from above and distracted her before Snivy followed through. The man from before had returned, standing atop the wall and had something in his hand.

"Wait, don't—!" the woman called to him. But it was too late, he'd dropped it and whatever it was smashed to pieces at Touko's feet. Once it had, the woman scrambled up the wall herself.

Touko just blinked in confusion—had he missed?—until a murky dark gas started to rise from the shattered glass. Whatever it was, it looked…_wrong_…but Touko couldn't look for long. Whatever it was stung her eyes so they filled with tears. She fell to her knees, coughing and her head spinning.

"You idiot! That was almost all we had! We weren't supposed to use it, just transport it to Castelia City! Now, how are we supposed to replicate it?"

_Where are Panpour and Snivy?_ She couldn't see them through the fog. And she wasn't quite sure whether the fog was really there or just a really bad sign.

"That girl would have followed me all the way to the hideout!"

Touko fell to the ground. She fumbled through her pocket where her Panpour's and Snivy's empty balls were waiting. Even if she couldn't see them, she could probably recall them and keep them safe from the gas, whatever it was.

"And you can't take care of one pesky girl?"

"Snivy…Panpour…" she called weakly. There was no response.

"_You_ couldn't!"

"Please…" she whispered. Then she heard a click in each of their balls. She smiled weakly and held them tightly as she curled up.

"Alright, alright, it's fine. At least if we get more Dream Mist. We can act like the Nightmare Mist turned out to be a dud or a fake or something. Then we'll send some back to that lab guy and he can make us more eventually."

_Nightmare…?_ she thought, vaguely remembering it as the thing the man had gotten in trouble for mentioning. The fog was getting worse. Everything was black now and it felt like it was invading her ears, filling it with screams.

"How do we get it? It hasn't done anything so far!"

"Just kick it!"

There was a loud horrible sound and the weak cry of a Pokémon that multiplied into thousands in her ears.

"Please…stop…" she whispered weakly.

Then it happened again.

And again.

Each time was worse, even as she was falling farther away. She fought to stay, so she could help the Pokémon.

Then the darkness started to clear, which could only be good. She reached toward it, getting closer and closer, until she found herself clutching a familiar hand.

Her eyes widened in the sudden bright sunlight. "Dad?"

**XWXWXWXWX**

When the blinding light left her eyes, Touko found herself walking beside her father in silence, not quite sure of how she got there or where she was. Her concerns over the hurt Pokémon were falling away. Team Plasma, her concern for Bianca, her fight with Cheren…each worry faded further away with each step they took.

Her father wasn't speaking, which she distantly felt might be unusual for him. Why weren't they talking about Pokémon?

_Pokémon_…there was something important about a Pokémon…something she had to do…

The silence that at first had felt tranquil in the warm light was starting to feel uncomfortable, _prickly_ almost. The air was starting to grow cold. Her legs were growing heavy. Each step took more and more effort and soon her father was getting ahead of her.

"Dad, wai—" she tried to speak, but it felt like her mouth had filled with sand.

Soon, she couldn't walk at all. The silence felt like it was stabbing her with ice. She couldn't even shiver, frozen in place. Every word she tried to bring her father's attention back stuck in her throat.

_I have to help him!_ she thought, though she wasn't sure why.

Then it got dark again and she felt as if she could move. She immediately tried to reach back toward her father, but the sound of a crying Pokémon stopped her.

She remembered small things: the shape of her badge…the sound of Lillipup's bark…the strange feel of Snivy's leafy skin…

The distant sound of that crying Pokémon. She felt as if she could move a little.

Then she heard other things as well and she stopped, not sure she wanted to venture any closer.

"_What are you doing?" _a voice asked coldly from miles away.

"_M-my Lord!"_ two frightened voices responded.

_That voice sounds familiar…who…?_ Touko tried searching for the memory.

"_It was all his fault, my Lord! He broke the container!"_

"_Not that! What were you going to Munna?"_

A memory filtered in through the fog. Not the one she was searching for, but instead the image of a distressed Pokémon_._

"…Stop…" she whispered weakly. "…Don't hurt…the Pokémon…please…"

She tried to get up, to move to where the voices that had suddenly gone silent were. But as she searched her mind for more of the memories about this mysterious hurt Pokémon, she was confronted instead by an image of her father and the hope that she could still somehow reach him.

"Dad…"

She stopped fighting.

**XWXWXWXWX**

It felt like hours had passed now, but no matter how far her father walked away, at least she could still see him.

That should have been good, but it only filled her with anxiety.

The pain had slowly faded away, leaving her surrounded by complete emptiness as she kept her gaze fixed on her father, unable to move.

Every so often, it felt as if the darkness faded for one brief moment, and she could remember something, a happy memory.

But then each time, the memory would change. Something else would come back. The worries, her fears…her nightmares.

After a memory of fishing with her father fell into the darkness, it was overtaken by a vision of a teacher in the hallway.

Her eyes widened with horror. She suddenly could tell where they were. The shopping plaza back in Nuvema Town.

But…she hadn't even been with her father that day!

Even though she knew it was futile, she tried to call for him again, run toward him, _anything_ to get his attention. But he continued onward.

He stopped at the street and looked both directions. He was holding a bag in one hand, a phone in the other. He was talking to someone.

The words drifted across the wind…

"Are you sure that Touko hasn't gotten over her Zebstrika phase? She's turning _thirteen_ now…Well, I hope you're right. I had to check every store in the square. I was starting to think I'd have to go to a city!"

He was laughing. The tears already streamed down Touko's face as she tried to reach for him one more time.

Her father walked into the road and a silent scream tore Touko's throat; she couldn't even look away. This time, she had to see it with her own eyes instead of getting called out of class and hearing the horrible news in the hallway.

And she could do nothing to stop it. Again.

Then the voices started.

"_Miss White…I'm afraid your father has been in accident…"_

"_Your father would be so proud."_

"_Could you…postpone the Pokémon trip? Just for maybe a year or so?"_

"_It's ok, Touko. Cheren and I don't mind waiting for you."_

"_Listen, I'm going on ahead."_

"_Sorry, Touko! I didn't realize you weren't here too!"_

"_You're her friend; you shouldn't let her do something so dangerous."_

"_My father…saying he's proud of how strong I've become."_

…_It would be nice to dream at least…_

Then the words started to blend together; pushing in on her and suffocating her; trying to bury her in every painful word she'd heard in the past few days.

"—_I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation—you're going to confine many, many Pokémon—don't really need Panpour_ _anymore_—_You sound like Team Plasma—over the fight and that's why he left_—"

At first she screamed, but her voice only added to the sound.

So she fought, ran through the noise to try to find something that made sense, but only found some of the most excruciating sounds waiting for her.

"_Poor thing…she's still too young to have lost her father…"_

"_We found this at the accident, does it mean anything?"_

"…_because he was out shopping for her birthday too."_

"_Didn't you used to love Zebstrika?"_

"I don't want to just leave her alone! She looks like she's in pain!"

She couldn't remember that last one and it didn't sound at all awful. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on it.

"You already shouldn't be in here. We don't know if it's contagious."

"You read the note! It said it was a gas!"

The voices were getting louder. Maybe, if she tried to reach toward them…

"We don't know where that note came from. Look, I know you're worried about your friend, but the best thing you can do right now is stay out of the way. Loud noises may exacerbate the condition."

"But I promise I'll be—"

"They're right Bianca. Don't worry; I'll help them with the testing so we can find out just what happened."

"Alright…"

Was she leaving?

"Get better quick, Touko…"

Touko couldn't let the only comforting words get away. She stretched out her arm and cried out one last time.

"Wait!" she screamed as she lunged forward…

…And immediately fell down, hitting a cold hard floor.

"Touko! You're awake!" the familiar voice cried. And soon she was encircled in a pair of comforting arms. "I was so worried!"

"Bianca…" she murmured and blinked in the bright lights. For a moment it reminded her of the dream—she realized it must have been a dream now—and she shivered. But as her vision cleared, she found herself in an unfamiliar white room, which contained two other people in white coats.

Not very comforting. At least one of them was Fennel.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the scientist exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "Bianca can stay now, of course?"

"What did I just say about loud noises? And even if she's awake, we're still not sure it isn't contagious! She had—_has_ a fever!"

Touko caught onto what they were discussing quickly. Bianca was the familiar voice that helped her out of that awful nightmare.

She immediately glared at the unfamiliar woman and stated quite firmly, "I don't want Bianca to leave."

"Yes, but you see, you might be contagious and you don't want your friend to get sick, do you?"

"Well, since Touko is awake, she can tell us what happened, right? Then we'll figure it out." Fennel chimed in again.

Touko looked at Fennel and received a wink in return. She looked down, suddenly aware of the attention on her. "R-Right. It was this dark sort of…gas, I guess? Or maybe a mist since they kept saying something like that…Nightmare Mist! You know, sorta like Dream Mist? Except it wasn't like that at all. Anyway, they threw that at me in this glass…thing. Everything started to get dark and…" _I couldn't see my Pokémon anymore!_

Her head shot up and she looked around in a panic. "Where are Snivy and Panpour? They were out of their Poké Balls when it hit!"

"They're fine," Fennel replied, in a much more comforting tone than usual. She was smiling gently, rather than wearing the playful grin she'd sported just a few second ago. "You got them back in before much of it got into their system. It doesn't seem to have as strong of an effect on Pokémon, since they slept it off pretty quickly. But they're just resting in another room."

"Not at the Poké Center?" Touko asked with a frown.

Fennel's usual smile returned at that question. "Actually, we're in the Poké Center right now."

Touko didn't know quite what to say to that. "Poké Centers are for Pokémon."

"Hmm…yes, well, this is an unusual case. So, for expediency of testing, it seems to be for the best. Whoever found you was pretty swift about that. Either that or pretty weird, because as you said Poké Centers are for Pokémon. And as cute a girl you may be, Touko, you are no adorable little Cottonee."

Ignoring the jab/compliment, Touko went for the more important information hidden in that mess. "You didn't bring me here?"

"Actually no, but Bianca can let you know that full story. Though I'll remind you thatyou do still need your rest." She turned around and faced the doctor. "Are you still here? Doctor, your patient needs rest and we have some investigating to do!"

"R-right…" the doctor mumbled, finally conceding the point and walking out the door.

"The police will probably arrive soon, just as a warning. They've been skulking about." Then Fennel skipped out the door as well.

Bianca had remained silent throughout the entire argument, crying on Touko's shoulder. As she patted her back, Touko realized that their situations probably should have been reversed.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Don't ask _me_ that! I'm the one that's worried about you!" Bianca complained tearfully. She released Touko and kneeled upright. She sniffled a couple more times and then took a deep breath, putting on her most serious face. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Could be better," Touko replied with a shrug. Then she winced, even moving her head a small amount made her feel dizzy.

"Oh! You're supposed to be resting!" Bianca took Touko by the arm and helped her back into bed.

"Thanks," Touko mumbled as she got underneath the covers, but she adjusted her bed so she could sit up at least a little. Laying flat made her feel like she was on her deathbed.

Once she was comfortable, she turned to face Bianca, who was sitting beside her on the little visitor's stool. "So…what exactly happened?"

"I'm not even really sure…" Bianca began, looking up to the ceiling for her answers.

"Well, just tell me what happened after you left," Touko tried to help.

It was a poor choice of words, because tears immediately filled Bianca's eyes again. "I knew I shouldn't have—!"

"It's all right. I told you to and if you were there…" Touko's blood ran cold just at the thought. "Just tell me…what happened?"

Bianca just looked at Touko with watery eyes, so she tried to smile encouragingly in return.

Then Bianca sighed, took out a handkerchief, blew her nose (quite loudly) and took a deep breath. "After I left, I ran for Fennel's, since I had no idea where the police station might be. At first the people downstairs didn't want to let me up, because she was working on an experiment, but I pushed my way through," she spoke in a miserable informative tone, almost making Touko wish she hadn't asked after all. It was rather depressing.

"It took a while to explain, b-because I was so worried, you know? But then Fennel called for the police and we headed over to the Dreamyard ourselves. Since Fennel's apartment was so close, because of her experiments and all, we got there first. But when we got to where you'd been, you weren't there!

"Then the first police came and we showed them the hole in the wall that Team Plasma guy went off through, in case you followed him or maybe…got kidnapped." There was another small sniffle here, to properly relay Bianca's fears. "After they were gone, Fennel went to search the rest of the Dreamyard, I was supposed to stay put and wait for the police, but I heard a Munna, and I thought it could be the one that was kidnapped…"

"Did you find it?" Touko asked anxiously. Until that moment she'd almost forgotten about the Munna.

"Uh-uh." Bianca shook her head. She must have seen Touko's concern because she added quickly, "But it seems Munna was with you when you came! It was hurt pretty badly, but for a while it just didn't want to leave you."

Touko laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, thinking over this new information. For a while in the dream, she felt as if there were some good ones mixed in with the bad. But it was silly to think… "Munna projects dreams, right?"

"Well, yeah they do that, but they eat them too."

"Eat?" Touko repeated in confusion.

"In order to project someone's dream, they eat it first. Then the person forgets they ever dreamed it."

"Ah…" The sensation of losing the nightmare for an instant before it came rushing back. Munna hadn't been able to give her good dreams to fight the bad ones, but it gave her the opening. "Munna was trying to eat the Nightmare…"

"Nightmare?"

"You know, from the 'Nightmare Mist' or whatever that junk was. It must have been too much since it was weak though…"

"It actually gave you nightmares?" Bianca repeated fretfully. "What kind of nightmare were you having?" She was looking quite concerned. Of course, she'd been watching her…said it looked like she was in pain…

Touko looked away. Bianca obviously was worried, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about it. It took two years, but she had finally started to get on pretty well and those idiots had drudged it all back for her. Ripping open the wound. "Sorry…maybe later? Keep going with the story."

Bianca still looked concerned, but did as she was told. "So, I was only gone for a minute, before I went back, but there as a note on the ground. Then we came to the Poké Center and found you here."

She seemed to think that was the end of the story, but Touko wanted to know more. "What did the note say?"

"Oh, I'm not sure…the police took it once they got there. It was a lot of stuff about a gas, hurt Pokémon, _people_ who hurt Pokémon, some other stuff, and then it said you were at the Poké Center. It was kind of unclear."

"Really unclear…and weird…" Touko commented half-heartedly, disappointed by the information. It didn't tell her anything she didn't already know from being there.

"Even if it's weird, whoever wrote it helped you out! Like a hero!" Bianca said cheerfully.

Touko wasn't quite so sure about that. Things had been all mixed up, but sometimes she thought she heard real things. Things that didn't fit in with the memories. Like with Bianca; and another moment not long after the dream began…

It couldn't have been part of the nightmare, because it hadn't been that scary. Not for her anyway.

Her recollection of it was foggy, but she at least knew there had been someone there with the two Plasma idiots. Someone who they were a little afraid of.

And he'd been mad…because they were hurting the Pokémon.

Touko frowned at the memory. She should have been happy; someone saved the Pokémon. Of course, she _was_ very grateful for that, but it also meant that someone in Team Plasma was being honest and really did care about Pokémon.

Again, this should have been a good thing. But it made the world that seemed to have separated into black and white that morning a lot more complicated.

How could she know which side of Team Plasma was the real one?

* * *

**Author's Note: **Oh, hey sudden swerve. I remember writing this and seeing the words "Nightmare Mist" just pop up to my screen and being like "_Really?_" It sounded so cheesy and lazy and still does, but sometimes Pokemon villains do nothing but laze around in cheese. So, why not? Ultimately I let it go because the development lead me to some interesting places.

But still. I feel like this is chapter I want the most criticism on. I don't know how much I can change it with altering the story, but it will definitely help me with the sequels if I get some serious feedback here and now. I've done the least editing thus far in this chapter because I can't quite figure what might be wrong. It's frustrating. I hope it's just the fear of leaving the safe comfort of sticking to canon, but because of the shift I want to be sure.

**EDIT (7/26/12):** Chapter six, originally scheduled to be posted tomorrow, is now delayed for 2-4 days due to writer's inspiration. I've been obsessing about the original content in the next three chapters (the next three chapters are entirely original content really) and I have decided to just go ahead and fix them up so that they're right the first time. This should slow the schedule down, at least temporarily, to once a week.


	6. Mysteries Left Behind

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Next Update in 6-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously:** In the Dreamyard, Touko encountered Team Plasma, falling to a surprising attack that forced to relive her worst nightmare. Somehow, she was rescued, but without a single clue as to who was responsible for her mysterious rescue or why…

* * *

.

**Chapter Six**

_Mysteries Left Behind  
_

.

Not long after their conversation, the doctor from before came back, this time insisting that Bianca left for the benefit of "patient privacy" while she did some "routine check-ups." And since Touko was quite all right now, Bianca politely assented and left with a smile and a promise to come back later.

As the doctor went about her business, she kept muttering about how she wasn't used to dealing with a place where Pokémon roamed around freely like that. Since this was said within the hearing of Touko, a very obvious Pokémon enthusiast, the trainer had some doubt that she was particularly good at dealing with anyone. It seemed she'd been called in from a regular hospital, just for Touko, but since she was quite fine now—without the help of her doctor—the patient herself wished they hadn't bothered.

After all of the prodding was done, the doctor informed Touko that she was quite healthy, but she would have to stay overnight for observation.

Then just as the doctor left, the police came. A female and male duo of detectives like you'd see on TV: Detective Jim Bacon and Jenny Law. They even flashed her their badges.

She had to have told them the whole story about five times before they seemed satisfied. It was frustrating, but even Touko could admit, she'd been rather quiet the first two go-arounds, but after that frustration gave her new confidence and there really was no excuse. When Bianca showed up before the last go-around, Touko irritably asked that they let her in so she at least wouldn't have to repeat it _yet again_ after they left.

At least the details of the nightmare were not deemed necessary information to the case. Touko said she couldn't remember just the same.

"Is that it?" Touko asked as Detective Law closed up her notepad, the clear sign from TV that that was, in fact, it.

"Unless you have something else to tell us?"

"Well, no, but you guys don't have anything to say to me? What's going to happen from here and stuff?"

"That's right!" Bianca exclaimed, though she'd been very polite and silent until then, save for a few shocked gasps of outrage in the appropriate places. "There are a couple of shady villains out there that could be looking for their revenge!"

Touko somewhat doubted that, what she'd heard while semi-conscious lead her to believe they wouldn't exactly be getting off that easily.

The two detectives exchanged glances. Then Bacon let out a sigh and informed them, "They're actually already in custody."

"_What?_" Touko may have figured she was quite free of the duo nuisances, but she'd never figured on this.

"Yeah, they turned themselves in a couple of hours ago. They were going on about repenting for dishonoring Team Plasma and such."

"Then," Law continued. "There was some commotion in front of the Trainer's School while some guy in robes 'decried' the actions of the two Pokémon abusers who had infiltrated their Team. He actually used the word 'decry' too, like 'We decry these two wayward criminals. They are not true members of Team Plasma.' And so on."

'Some guy in robes' sure sounded familiar. "Was his name Ghetsis?"

"The speech guy? Nah, I don't think so. Something else that ended in an S though. It's in my other notes."

That wasn't too helpful. Touko sat back in her bed, arms folded and frowning. "So, what about Team Plasma?"

"Well, they're not tied into anything obviously…" Bacon said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure, not _now_," Touko shot back.

"Look," the detective took a seat in the stool beside Touko's bed. His partner rested against the wall, ready for a longer wait. "We've been looking into Team Plasma. It seems like the popped out of nowhere. A few sightings of speech-making are not exactly a criminal offense."

"But the woman from Plasma implied they were stealing Pokémon for their whole liberation thing!" Touko complained. "Stealing definitely is a crime!"

"Yeah, there have been a couple of complaints in other towns recently it seems. The thing is, there's no proof. It was things like a person saw them hanging around, their Poké Ball went missing, and they just assumed. You seem to be the first witness to any real crime. Multiple crimes actually…Whatever they tried on you seemed like something particularly nasty…"

"_But_," his partner continued, "you heard what we said. Everyone, including the suspects, is saying that they're not in Team Plasma or that they weren't following orders. So, we can't tie it to them. Team Plasma could be telling the truth when they go around claiming this isn't their way and such."

"Is that the stealing? Or just the entirely hypocritical Pokémon abuse that 'isn't their way and such'?" Touko asked contemptuously.

"They've been kind of vague on that front."

"So, what? Nothing is going to happen."

"For now," Bacon answered. "If there's truth to the other reports, it's only a matter of time."

"As far as criminal organizations go though—well, _alleged_ criminal organizations—they've been tricky up until now," Law started again. "Quiet, it seems."

"Oh?" Touko raised an eyebrow. "How exactly does that fit with the speech-making, knights uniforms, and robes?"

"Just before we left, there was some information that leads us to believe they've been somewhat active for _at least_ ten years. Maybe more."

Touko's sardonic expression fell at that, replaced with a genuine look of concern. "How long have you been hearing about them?"

"About a week?" Bacon estimated. "Though that's just when we heard reports from other towns, mind you. No one in Striaton mentioned them until the speech three days ago. It seems a few towns have received visits like that, but not all of them. It's real quiet, just some rumors from people visiting the City, and then after the speech, it's all anyone talks about."

"Probably won't be long now until it's on the news."

Touko bit her bottom lip. Team Plasma had made her feel uneasy from the first time she met them, but she never imagined that they actually had a chance of accomplishing their goal. They had just been freaks in weird uniforms that tried to make her feel bad for loving her Pokémon. Except Ghetsis.

Ghetsis had felt wrong from the beginning. She still couldn't explain it, but he was the reason she'd practically seen it coming when she saw what phonies they really were.

Well, at least those two were.

And Ghetsis. Probably.

And with a leader like that, why wouldn't there be more…?

_This is getting too confusing!_ Touko thought, sitting back with a huff.

There was still the hope that they really were the exception in Plasma and the rest really did genuinely love Pokémon. But it wasn't very comforting when it seemed to be clear that they really did intend to "liberate" Pokémon.

She looked over at Bianca, who looked just as worried as she was, hugging Oshawott.

"Touko? You have a phone call from—" Fennel came in suddenly, shattering the serious mood instantly. "Oh my, am I interrupting?"

"We were just leaving," Jenny Law informed her stiffly and she and Jim Bacon left without another word.

"Do your best on the case," Fennel sent them off in a sing-song voice. Then she turned back to the girls, both still wearing grim expressions despite Fennel's particularly light-hearted appearance. She shifted to a more relaxed smile to fit the mood now that she'd sent off the stranger. "Phone call for you, Touko. It's from your mother. She didn't answer when we called originally. Naturally, now that she has the message, she is quite anxious to make sure you're all right."

Touko scrambled out of bed and into the hallway where the video phone was in fact waiting for her, displaying her mother's worried face. Although she hadn't thought it out beforehand, she was pleased to find her dizziness was in fact, gone.

She picked up the handset for some privacy. "Hello, Mom?" she spoke into the receiver.

"_Touko, thank goodness you're all right! What's this I hear about a hospital?"_

Her mother's panicked voice caused her throat to seize up. As if her expression hadn't been enough. Of course her mother would think the worst, as soon as she got a message from a hospital.

Not to mention how Touko had completely forgotten to call her since she last saw her on Route 2, despite their promise. That surely hadn't helped matters.

"_Touko!"_

"A-actually it's a Poké Center," Touko answered, still struggling for useful words.

"_What?"_ For the moment, her mother's face lost all concern, replaced with confusion. It was almost enough to make Touko laugh.

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm fine now. It wasn't a big injury or anything. I was able to sleep it off just fine."

"_Well, I'll come to Striaton right away—"_

"Mom, it's fine really. I just have to stay overnight for observation. I plan on leaving for Nacrene first thing in the morning." She paused, trying to figure out the best way to alleviate her fears. She pouted a bit, to help her get into the mood, and used her best bothered teenager voice, "If you came all the way here, I'd probably just end up waiting on you before I could leave. I already lost a day with this stuff, you know?"

The other end of the line was silent for a few minutes while her mother looked stuck between fret and relief. Then there was a quick laugh. _"Honestly, can't you let me be a proper mother?"_

"Not when Cheren is so far ahead of me."

"Oh! Cheren!" Bianca's voice came from the room and she dove out into the hallway, looking at Touko in a panic. "I completely forgot to call him back!"

"What!" Touko whipped around to look at Bianca, who had clearly been eavesdropping.

"_I didn't say anything yet,"_ Touko's mom protested. _"Maybe you aren't better yet after all."_

"Sorry, Mom. It's not you. Just wait a second." Touko put her hand over the receiver and hissed to Bianca, "What did you say to him?"

"That you were hurt. He was still on Route 3, so he said he was coming back…"

"Call him back! Tell him to turn back around and go to Nacrene!"

"But—!"

"Tell him I told him to…and that when I get there myself, he better be ready to battle me!"

Bianca nodded and hurried out the door to make her own phone call.

"Honestly…" Touko let out a huff of hot air. She returned to her call. "Sorry about that, Mom."

"_Hehh…sounds like Cheren is pretty worried. You three are all so cute."_

"You heard that?"

"_I heard Bianca anyway. She's quite loud when she's wound up. Your challenge was pretty cute too though."_

Touko sighed. At least it looked like her mother was back in prime shape if she could go on about things like that. "I'm sorry I haven't called you, but I won at the Striaton Gym."

"_I see! Then you must have faced Chili since you have Snivy. Did you have a tough time?"_

"A little. Actually, some girl gave me a Panpour right before, so it turned out all right."

"_Oh…that's odd. But I guess that's nice."_

"Not really. At all."

"_Ah. Well, you'll find all sorts on your journey. I can assure you that most of them aren't so bad."_

Her track record for Striaton begged to differ, but Touko had neglected mentioning that her illness was due to an attack. There was no point in worrying her mother further though, so she changed the subject.

"By the way, Striaton isn't the gym you were talking about…is it?" Touko asked carefully, dreading the answer a bit.

"_Goodness no! Striaton is a Family Restaurant _and_ Gym. Those boys inherited it right from their father."_

Touko let out a sigh of relief.

"_No, I don't think Striaton is really my style. No matter how cute I look in an apron."_

"I have to say though, Mom. I don't feel like aprons made for a very intimidating look for a Gym Trainer," Touko said with a little giggle.

"_Oh…you're going to regret saying that…"_

"What do you mean?"

"_You'll find out soon enough. I do believe I should let you get your rest now."_

"Mom? Seriously, what—?"

"_I love you very much, dear."_

"I love you too, but—"

"_Stay safe then. Bye!—"_ The line was silent and her mother's face blinked off the screen.

Well, it seemed there was one sure way to get her mother to leave her alone, even if she was sick in bed. Try to get information from her and she'd go all mysterious on her.

Honestly, she was coming to the conclusion that all adult women were weird. Professor Juniper was the most normal one she knew—just a little more easygoing than most—and she was a Pokémon researcher. They were supposed to be a little weird.

Bianca came back a little while later, but only got to say that Cheren was heading back to Nacrene before she was shuffled out of the room because visiting hours were over.

Touko wondered if they always had visiting hours or if her presence there made for a special set of rules. Then again, there was no reason why someone wouldn't want to visit a sick Pokémon. Apparently, Bianca had been doing just that when she'd been shuffled out of the room; visiting the hurt Munna.

It was the first night Touko had a bed all to herself. It was a little lonely without Snivy or any of her other Pokémon. She knew they were tucked somewhere safely (Snivy and Panpour were both also "under observation" for the night), but she worried about them anyway.

_A future without Pokémon_, she thought as she stared up at the ceiling of her dark room. _How could anyone even imagine such a thing?_

**XWXWXWXWX**

The next morning, Touko was quite impatient to get out and on her way. It seemed like people get stopping her with "One more thing!" each step she took. It took until almost noon before they even gave her clothes back.

But at last she was reunited with her Pokémon and standing in the lobby with Fennel. She'd already stocked up on medicine (and after what happened, she practically cleaned out the store, just to be safe) and now they were just waiting on Bianca to say goodbye before Touko continued ahead on the journey.

"It was very nice to meet you, Touko. Despite the troubles," Fennel said happily. "And although it wasn't in the ideal way, I still got my Dream Mist, so feel free to come by anytime if you need help." She paused for a moment and then laughed. "Actually, because it wasn't the ideal way, I should give you lots of help."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly your fault…"

"Oh, how nice of you to say. But since Plasma gets away with it, I'll take some responsibility. Anything you want and I'll do my best to help."

Touko looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well…are you helping out with the Nightmare Mist?"

"At least until someone more qualified comes in to take over. I have some dealings with Dream Mist, but it's not exactly my specialty to deal with things like this. Why?"

"I was hoping you could tell me something or keep me informed. People have been pretty good about that so far, except about the Nightmare Mist."

"Hmm…I will try my best, but I'm afraid there isn't a lot to keep you informed about." Fennel folded her arms and looked oddly thoughtful. "You see, the only thing we have to study is your blood sample. There's not a lot there."

"I see. But isn't there anything? I've been thinking that it's weird, because they called it Nightmare Mist, like Dream Mist, but it does something entirely different."

"I can't really explain that…unless a theory we've been tossing around would be helpful?"

"I'll take anything, really."

"To be certain, Nightmare Mist does not come from any Pokémon. Well, that's not accurate. It does not come from any _one_ Pokémon. Perhaps it is a mixture of various poisons and gases and other materials from a collection of Pokémon to create something particularly foul. Your symptoms were both psychic in nature and physical, so we can't think of any other way it could have been done."

_Plasma has that sort of capability?_ Touko thought in alarm. _No…wait. They said they needed to replicate it. It must have come from somewhere else._

"I don't think it came from Plasma," she said quietly.

"Well, that is the official line I hear…"

"No, I mean, I think those two got it from somewhere else. They needed to figure out how to make it."

"You told the police?"

"Probably. I don't remember everything I said each time, but they asked enough questions."

"Hmm…well, I'll keep it in mind as well. Though I'm not quite sure if it makes me feel better or worse."

Touko understood the sentiment. Team Plasma was enough to worry about without someone else lurking around, but at least they didn't seem to have the capability to immediately make more.

"Sorry I'm late!" Bianca came bounding down the hallway into the lobby. It wasn't exactly the direction Touko had expected her to come from, but she hadn't expected to see her holding Munna either.

"New friend?" Touko asked with a smile.

"Heh," Bianca smiled shyly. "It seems this little one wanted to come with me. I was just checking on her again since you weren't here yet and she tried to follow me right on out when I left. Since she's all better now, they said it was fine to just let her come along with me. It seems she took a liking to me during my visit!"

Bianca was practically glowing with her contained excitement.

Touko smiled and gave the Munna a little pet. "Thanks for trying to help me." Then she looked at Bianca and stood up straight. "Well, I think I have someplace to be."

"Cheren said he'd be looking for you at the end of Route 3."

"And so I better get there before he gets another badge and has to run off," Touko said with a fake sigh of exasperation. She was quite over Cheren's impatience. If she could say one positive thing about her ordeal, it was that it sure put things in perspective. "But I think you better catch up too."

Bianca looked determined. "No problem! Now that I have Munna, I'll really do my best at the gym!"

"I'm counting on it." She turned to Fennel with a nod. "And thank you."

"No problem. I'll get your information from Professor Juniper if I need to tell you anything else."

Touko gave her another nod and headed out of the Poké Center, waving at them from the entrance before leaving.

As soon as she was outside she let Snivy out of his Poké Ball for their walk to Route 3. They'd already had their tearful reunion (mostly her tears, but Snivy really did look glad to see her), but it felt nice to have him by her side again after her night alone.

Already, as she walked through the city, things felt like they were returning to something resembling normal.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Once Touko stepped onto the route, she let Lillipup out as well for some exercise. She figured she'd go through a rotation of the 4, while Snivy stayed out. Touko got the feeling she might be spoiling him, because Snivy be glaring at his Poké Ball again. Either that or it was still his usual expression.

But it made her feel better, so just this once it was okay. Probably.

She met a few other Trainers along the way, but as usual, the further she walked, the less there seemed to be. It made sense. People from Striaton wouldn't go out that far for some battles. After she passed the daycare (one for children _and _Pokémon, lucky brats), she didn't see another person again.

For the longest time she didn't even encounter any Pokémon. Considering her problem was catching too many Pokémon, she was fine with this for the time being. Although, she knew there were Blitzle somewhere on the route and that was something she'd like to see…

…Probably…_Maybe_…

Touko let out a sigh as she plopped onto the ground for a break, setting down Snivy beside Patrat. Patrat's turn only came a few minutes ago and he looked a little dismayed at the break. Even Touko had only been walking for an hour since her last one, but they _had_ told her to take it easy…

Excuses…seemed like she had a lot of those now.

Oh, there was the self-pity too.

Touko laid back in the grass and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds go by, trying to erase all of her unpleasant thoughts.

There was a secret place back home in Nuvema Town that only she knew about. A place where only a child could squeeze through the trees and find the clearing far away from the town, offering the perfect view of the sky. Since she'd discovered that place after a tough day at school, even just looking up at the clouds always seemed to make her feel better…Like it brought her back there. To an innocent place that could only be reached in childhood.

Of course, she could clearly remember the day she found out that she was too big to go there. She hadn't been since she turned ten and her mind became all about becoming a trainer, but after the accident she'd wanted to try anything to forget…and all she found out was that her childhood was over.

Touko frowned. Why was it that even her good memories had to be spoiled?

Suddenly there was a pressure on her chest and a certain grass-type Pokémon was obstructing her view of the sky.

She raised an eyebrow; he seemed to be just staring at her impassively, which wasn't that unusual at all, but when he'd do something to get her attention, he was usually a lot more obvious about what he wanted.

"What's up, Sniv?"

Still being mysterious, Snivy only looked up at the sky and then back down at Touko. He tilted his head a little and made a small squeak.

Touko sat up suddenly, causing Snivy to tumble down into her lap. He only looked mildly bothered as he picked himself up and instead returned his focus to Touko, now she realized, looking a little uncertain…or perhaps…

A wide smile broke out across Touko's face. "Are you worried about me, Snivy?"

Snivy sat on her lap and kept his gaze on her, looking for an answer to his own question instead. Something Touko finally figured out…

"_Are you all right?"_

Touko felt her heart swell in her chest as she looked in his worried eyes. She had her usual urge to grab Snivy into a hug, but resisted it, knowing Snivy's feelings on such affection. Instead, she put her hand on top of his head, in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "I'm just fine," she informed him in a soft voice. "You must have been pretty worried, huh? I'm sorry I didn't think about that."

_I was a little worried about you, too…_

Even though she didn't say it aloud, Snivy must have caught her full meaning and tucked himself into her arm. At least, there was no other reason Touko could figure out that would make him specifically seek a hug. At any rate, Touko recognized the enormity of the gesture and held back, just giving him a small hug before she set him back down on the ground.

She had to do her part, too, after all.

They shared a quick smile, before Snivy got distracted, looking behind Touko. His tail twitched ever-so-slightly. Touko turned around and was faced with Patrat darting at her from the bushes. He came to a stop in front of her and started chattering at her.

"H-hold up…I can't speak…Patrat-ese?" Touko tried with a grimace. Honestly, it was just unfair that her Pokémon seemed to understand her just fine.

Patrat pointed impatiently into the bushes. Perfectly easy to understand. Touko picked herself up and followed Patrat into the bushes. As soon as she crawled through, it was easy to determine what had gotten Patrat worked up.

For the most part anyway. She realized right away that it seemed to be a hurt Pokémon, it took a few more seconds for her to realize it was another Patrat.

The Patrat was a much darker shade of brown, almost black. It was also quite small, it had to be under a foot, much smaller than any Patrat she'd seen.

She was gentle as she picked the darkly-colored Patrat up so she could figure out what was wrong, but by the wild Pokémon's lack of reaction to human touch, she figured pretty quickly that it—_she_—had already fainted. Examining him even closer showed some sort of cut (perhaps a sting?) where it looked like he'd been poisoned.

There weren't any Pokémon on route 3 that could poison, were there?

She looked at her own Patrat, who was looking up at her expectantly. Somehow, she was expected to solve this problem. She looked down at the bag slung by her side, though even without searching she knew what she had; perhaps three antidotes, but revives…she couldn't even buy those yet.

But looking at both Patrats, she knew that leaving the hurt Pokémon behind wasn't an option. She was too small…still had to be really young…

That settled it. Touko stood up, cradling the fainted Pokémon gently. She couldn't do anything, but the daycare she'd passed by must be able to.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Touko stood alone in the lobby of the daycare, pacing back and forth and trying not to worry too much. Her Patrat seemed to be mimicking her, though whether this was intentional or not she couldn't say. Snivy sat on the lone chair of the room, just watching the both of them…back and forth, back and forth…

The rest of the Pokémon in her team remained blissfully unaware of the situation and still in their Poké Balls.

After what felt like hours (actually less than five minutes), the older woman who ran the daycare reappeared at the desk with a smile.

"How is she?" Touko asked, darting to the desk immediately.

"Fine, fine. Just one revive and she woke right back up. Fixed up her sting with an antidote too, to be safe."

For the first time since she found the hurt Pokémon, it felt like she was finally able to breathe again. But the relief was short-lived.

"So, how long will you be boarding her?"

"Oh…_oh_…" Touko looked down at the desk. Somehow, in her panic, certain…very important details had gotten lost.

She looked up, a hesitant smile on her face. "You see…I didn't need to board her, just heal her. I only have one badge, so I can't buy revives yet. I don't think it would be right to board her since she's not really mine…but whatever you need payment for, I'll gladly pay, of course!" Touko finished off with an earnest look.

The woman looked at Touko for a good, long while. "She's not your Pokémon?"

"N-no…she's wild and Patrat—my Patrat—just found her and I had to fix her up somehow."

"You didn't even fight her?"

Touko frowned at that; it felt like an accusation to even suggest she might have. "Of course not. Look how small she is. I doubt she'd go attacking trainers."

"Not even to catch her?"

"I just said I have my own Patrat." And Touko gestured to the Pokémon sitting on the floor.

"Haven't you noticed her coloring? Even if Patrat are common, any shiny Pokémon is a rarity."

"Oh…yeah…I guess…" Touko murmured. She'd noted that her coloring was odd, but hadn't thought much about it, too concerned with the injury. Shiny Pokémon were always a big deal with the other girls at school, but Touko hadn't exactly been like the other girls at school.

"Just what are you going to do with her?" the old woman decided to cut right to the point.

Touko looked down at Patrat standing beside her. He motioned to the door, then gave her a little nod. Touko looked back at the woman and relayed what her Pokémon seemed to be advising her, "Bring her back to where I found her. She's still little enough that she might have a family. Patrat seems to think it's best anyway."

After a period of silence, the woman suddenly burst out laughing. Touko looked uneasy, unsure what to make of the sudden development.

"There's no charge," the old woman finally said with a pleasant, almost surprisingly sane smile.

"R-really?" Touko asked in disbelief. "Revives are pretty expensive…"

"You're not doing this to get any benefit. I don't see why I can't do the same." The woman put her hands on her hips. "It would be pretty little of me to take money from a new trainer, don't you think?"

Well, obviously no, that wasn't what Touko thought since she'd been expecting it. But instead she just managed a small smile that she hoped showed her thanks.

The woman smiled in return, so it must have been good enough. "I'll just go get that wild, _shiny_ Patrat for you so you can bring her back." Even as the woman said it and walked into the back, she was still shaking her head in disbelief.

Touko wasn't sure how many times adults had told her, "it's not what's on the outside, but on the inside that counts," but she was starting to think that maybe they hadn't repeated the cliché to enough other people.

After the dark Patrat was passed off to her, Touko immediately headed back onto the road—after another several thank yous to the day care woman. It was going to start getting dark before she knew it and she at least wanted to make it back to where she turned around. Snivy had willingly gone back in his Poké Ball and let just Patrat join her and the other Patrat down the road. That way she could make good time. Probably the best choice considering the circumstances

With the darkening sky, it was hard to tell exactly where she was, but her Patrat seemed to know the way and eventually came to a stop by a bush. Touko kneeled down and set down her healed cargo.

She looked up at Touko. Up until then the Pokémon had been a bit fidgety, but patient under the circumstances. Considering how complacent she was, Touko was wondering if perhaps this new Patrat wanted to stay with her. If that was the case, she definitely couldn't turn her away. After all, she'd taken Panpour in. Purrloin sort of counted too.

But then the Pokémon just scurried off into the grass, not even glancing back.

As Touko watched the rustling grass, all she could think was that relationships with Pokémon were complicated. Snivy, who seemed to take to her immediately, but still remained obstinate when he felt like it. Lillipup, who had been so aggressive when she first met him, but turned into this happy, bouncy creature after she caught him. Purrloin, who didn't seem to object to being her Pokémon, just to doing anything. Panpour, who agreed to join her despite already being loyal to another owner.

She looked at her own normal-colored Patrat, the only Pokémon that hadn't given her any trouble. He looked up at her and seemed to shrug his little shoulders, unable to give her any answers.

_Perhaps…maybe… _If Touko tried really, really hard, she could see where Team Plasma's reasoning came from. Because if you actually bothered to think about it, on the surface, it _didn't_ make sense.

Why did Pokémon like their trainers? Because they were beaten by them? But with a case like Panpour, had the effort to save him been enough? But still unexplained were starters like Snivy…

Somehow…Touko knew that shiny Patrat didn't want her. Despite rescuing her, even more so than Panpour…

Pokémon and trainers…no two were alike. So, every single relationship was different.

Touko stood up. That may not be much of an answer, but it was one she could live with to continue on her journey. She smiled down at her calm and helpful Patrat, unlike any other Pokémon she'd ever met. "Come on, we've got more road to cover."

Just the two walked down the road. As the sky turning orange and red with the sunset, Patrat started to get a little sluggish—running to the daycare and back had really taken it out of him—so Touko let him rest inside of his Poké Ball.

It was probably a good time to stop for the night, but Touko had lost a lot of time going back to the daycare and she wanted to make up for a little bit of that time. Plus all the rest from the hospital for a person who wasn't really sick gave her a lot of excess energy to burn.

But then it got dark. Really dark, really suddenly. And Touko just happened to be in a gap between the street lights.

She looked around uneasily at her dark surroundings. It was her first night camping out on the road. She could see another light a bit further ahead, but it wasn't doing much for her yet. She wondered how Cheren had seemed so willing to walk in the dark, until she remembered Tepig.

Touko grumbled a bit to herself, wishing that fire Pokémon weren't so hard to find in this part of Unova. She saved a little more grumbling for her own impatience; also the doctor because she wanted to blame her for something. The shiny Patrat stayed out of it because she was too cute to blame, and seriously, she'd been _hurt_.

Once Touko reached the light, she decided it would be best to set up camp right beneath it to feel safest. She really was feeling quite content as she ate her pre-bed snack. That was, until she heard some rustling from a shadowy area.

At that point she decided it was best to let the Pokémon out again, because after all she _had_ promised her mom they would protect her. She chose Lillipup and Patrat so she wouldn't show too much favoritism to Snivy. But when she heard another rustling sound and the two didn't look particularly bothered, she let Snivy on out too…and Panpour.

She was about to let Purrloin on out too, but this wouldn't really be to anyone's benefit. Purrloin would just be cranky about her sleep being interrupted.

It was the third rustling and the complete lack of reaction from all four Pokémon that got Touko out of her sleeping bag. "Fine, I'll investigate it myself," she informed her still-sleeping companions. Still no reaction.

She sighed and started rummaging through her bag, trying to find some source of light. She found her Xtransceiver and in the course of testing out the light it cast, shined its light right on Patrat's face, finally waking up one of her Pokémon.

As he opened up his sleepy eyes, Touko winced and whispered a small, "Sorry." She knew all too well what it was like to be woken up so rudely, which was why she'd been trying to avoid it despite her fear…

But Patrat didn't seem to bothered about that, attention suddenly snagged elsewhere. He suddenly stood up, ears and nose twitching, and then took off into the darkness.

"Patrat!" Touko called after her Pokémon and immediately ran after. Though as she left the light, she had to slow down. The light cast by her Xtransceiver was barely helpful and her legs were shaking more and more at each sound. She vowed to buy a flashlight as soon as she got to Nacrene City.

Though she felt that she would have been a lot braver if she at least weren't wearing her _pajamas_.

"H-hello?" she called out uneasily as she walked through the grass. "Patrat, where are you?"

Something slithered right by her foot. At first, she stepped back in alarm, but then Touko slowly realized she was walking through the grass. Grass that hid wild Pokémon. Wild Pokémon that could be making the noises that were disrupting her.

She was worrying over nothing.

Touko let out a sigh of relief and lowered her Xtransceiver. _Oh well, Pokémon aren't going to be a problem…once I get out of their area, anyway…_ Unfortunately, she couldn't do that until she found Patrat.

Then she heard a snap of a twig and a very human voice murmuring nearby.

She whipped around, brandishing the Xtransceiver as if it were a weapon as she signed its light on her would-be opponent. "Who's there? I-I'm warning you I have five huge Pokémon and my friends have a lot more too! And…" she drifted off uselessly, she wasn't very good at threatening, especially when her voice was cracking at each lie.

Then she noticed the figure caught in her light, crouching in the grass. Long green hair…white shirt…then he stood up and she was sure when she had to tilt her head to look up at him.

"It's you. From before."

He said it so casually, that Touko almost dropped her Xtransceiver in shock.

It took a couple of minutes to regain her brain functions, but soon enough she sputtered, "Wh-what are you doing out here in the middle of the wilderness in the middle of the night in the middle of _nowhere_?"

"I was looking for someone…but it seems that problem was already solved…" He looked down beside his feet, where Touko saw her Patrat sitting quite comfortably.

"Patrat!" she called and he immediately came running at her worried tone, and jumped into her arms. She fell to her knees and hugged him tightly in her relief. "Don't make me worry about you too…" Patrat squeaked his response, hopefully an assurance that he'd try.

"Did you…" N's voice came, startling Touko out of her overblown reunion, to the more present issue at hand: figuring out how she kept running into this other trainer.

However, she paused before darting into detective mode, since he seemed to have a question of his own…

…that he wasn't going to finish, Touko decided after several silent moments where N just looked at her, a slight frown of confusion.

"So…what are you doing out here?" she repeated her question from before, because the vague nonsensical "looking for a person/problem that was solved" didn't do her much good.

"Aren't you here, too? A trainer has to travel along the routes to get to each town," he replied, as if reciting something from memory.

Touko's mouth opened and closed uselessly. Then she stood up straight, trying to regain some of her composure. "Well, yeah…but I didn't scare you half to death."

"I didn't mean to."

"Well, you didn't, so whatever," she said, covering for herself even if it made no sense.

Luckily, N didn't argue.

"You're heading for Nacrene City, too then?" Touko asked, deciding she might as well make some conversation while she figured out what exactly was happening. She heard noises, Patrat ran off, leading her to this strange young man she'd now met for the third time in the middle of the night…

Yeah, trainer traveling. She got that. But it still didn't seem to click.

N nodded to her question. Then there was a rustle in the grass behind him and he turned, looking a little dismayed.

So, maybe the rustling was his fault after all. Though, Touko wasn't really sure how, so she decided against making the accusation.

"I'm going to keep walking, since I figured out what I needed to," N informed her, having decided to leave the conversation without much consideration as to how to do it politely.

"It's the middle of the night!" Touko argued in disbelief. "You can't even see!"

"No, I'm fine," N said without bothering to explain why he was fine and he turned around. Apparently, that was the end of that.

Unlike the other times she'd met him, he seemed a little anxious to get moving, rather than ramble opinions that didn't make sense to her. His answers were actually short and to the point.

_Maybe he's tired…_ And somehow, she couldn't help but worry a little bit. Traveling at night _was_ dangerous, but while tired too…no matter what that didn't seem right.

However, these thoughts only dwelled for a couple of seconds before they were superseded by her own worries and Touko bit her lip. The only person she'd seen since the miles of travel away from the daycare was about to leave.

Then she'd be left alone. In the dark. _By herself_.

Suddenly, without forethought she reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt before he could leave. "Hey, wait!"

N turned back to look at her, an innocent look of confusion on his face, but remained silent.

Of course, since it was obvious she was the one with something to say.

Touko opened her mouth, but nothing came out. _What was she supposed to say?_ It was pretty obvious now that she was scared out of her wits alone in the dark, but would asking a virtual stranger to stay really be better? Plus, how awkward was that?

Actually, it was already pretty awkward. Touko standing in the dark, in her pajamas, still clutching his shirt…She quickly let the fabric go and took a couple of steps back to be completely polite. She also felt quite thankful for the most modest set of PJs she'd ever owned since she stopped wearing footy pajamas.

She cleared her throat, feeling it regained some of her dignity and explained herself at last. "You know, it's pretty dark. I don't think it's a good idea for you to wander around by yourself. It gets dangerous."

"Pokémon won't hurt me," he replied certainly, as if that was that. He turned to walk away again.

"_Wait._ Even if Pokémon aren't something to worry about, there are other dangers."

"What other dangers?"

"Well, people, I'm sure. Didn't your parents ever tell you to watch out for strangers?"

N looked thoughtful for a moment, but then answered quickly and with conviction, "Of course. There are a lot of bad people who hurt Pokémon who can't be trusted."

"Well, there are bad people who hurt other people too!"

"My friends will protect me."

Touko furrowed her brow in confusion. _Friends…oh, his Pokémon?_ Well, that was certainly true, though the only one she knew of was his Purrloin and she wasn't sure how much help that would be…hers would go down if you just scratched her ears right.

Though Touko couldn't help but think her Purrloin's idiosyncrasies were…unique.

But then she thought of her encounter in the Dreamyard, something she'd been managing to avoid thinking about so far, and her breath halted for a moment. She looked down at the ground, trying to hide her expression as she spoke softly, "But…sometimes…you have to protect your Pokémon too. Even at risk to yourself."

N was silent at that.

She looked up hesitantly. "You would do that, wouldn't you?"

"If someone was trying to hurt my friends…I wouldn't let them no matter what…" he replied definitively and quickly.

Touko smiled in relief, then grinned with more confidence. "See! Well, two people can protect each other and a lot more Pokémon." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away again. "So…_just to be safe_…you should stick around too."

"What about your friends?"

"Hmm?"

"Won't there be more than two of us?"

Touko's brow furrowed in confusion, until she remembered her earlier threat. "Oh. _Oh_…no, that was…that was…Well, that was just so that…if someone was dangerous they wouldn't think…" She took a breath and let it out slowly. "It's just me. Sorry."

N frowned in confusion, though whether he was confused about why she was apologizing or why she had lied before, she wasn't sure.

Instead she laughed uneasily. Clearly, her secret about being scared was hanging pretty tenuously in the wind. "So, are you going to stick around?"

For a while he just frowned as he looked at her. Then he glanced down at Patrat and without looking back at her, replied succinctly (enough), "Yeah…ok…"

Touko started to smile brightly in her relief, but she quickly forced it away. Then with another throat-clearing for dignity, she pointed to the street light. "My camp's this way."

She led the way much more confidently and upon reaching the camp tucked Patrat back into the little burrow he'd dug for himself, giving him a kiss on top of his head. Whatever weirdness caught him that night seemed to work out to give her _more_ peace of mind.

She still wasn't sure that this was a logically better choice, but she certainly felt safer. She might not know N too well, but she was sure he wasn't some crazy evil lurking in the shadows. That put him a few points above the imaginary company she'd have if left alone.

As Touko got into her sleeping bag, N sat down on the ground a while away. He was close enough so that he was still in the light, but still out of the area Touko considered her camp, keeping a distance.

Then as he laid back, she realized he was missing something she considered rather vital.

"Don't you have a sleeping bag?" Touko asked with a frown. If she thought about it, she hadn't seen him with any kind of bag, which was strange for a Trainer.

"I'm fine like this," he replied. Succinct, without explanation.

Touko decided to go with her theory that he was tired and that the best option was to let it be. Especially since now she could sleep. So, she burrowed herself down into her cozy bedding to find Lillipup had sneaked in while she was away. She smiled and hugged the small Pokémon to her chest.

"Good night, N."

When there was no response, she continued louder, "You know, it's polite to say good night."

"…Good night."

"Good night, N," Touko repeated once again yawning this time. Then she snuggled in her bed and fell asleep with a smile.

* * *

**Author's Note on Pokémon Personalities: **I think the toughest thing about writing a Pokémon story is remembering the Pokémon. It's what sets it apart, so it's important, but because so few series feature anything resembling these sentient-not-animals, they don't really exist in your writing style to begin with. I certainly don't deal with this in my original stories. I mean, have you noticed that characters in most books just don't have pets? Even though most people have pets. It's because they're an unnecessary detail and hard to write, giving them a personality without making them unrealistic.

However, here it's very necessary and Pokémon aren't exactly pets. So, in my first go-around I basically ignored the Pokémon, but now a lot of the rewrites are about making the Pokémon more important. But still…they aren't exactly human, so what do you do? I think the easiest way to do this has been to do what the games sort of do, with the "nature" thing (even though that has no story importance in the game whatsoever). Basically, give them one basic trait and roll with it from there.

Sometimes, in the case of Snivy here, they get a little more complicated than that. But I think it's the least that can be done. Give each Pokémon something quirky for which they can be remembered. As I was realizing this, this Pokémon personality stuff sort of became the big theme of the chapter, to the extent I might have drifted into even more tell than show than usual. But I believe I'm getting a handle on it as a result.

**Note on Scheduling:** I edited this into the last chapter, but so everyone knows, there's a lot of rewriting that needs to be done for the next 3 chapters, so the schedule has been bumped to 6-7 day wait time. I make no promises of even that being strictly adhered to, because clearly schedules only exist to make a fool of me.


	7. Something So Important

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Next Update in 6-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously: **After the extended time spent in Striaton City, Touko finally set out toward Nacrene City. Unfortunately, even the road showed its disruptions when Touko had to race to help a badly injured Patrat. After that, she had to deal with all the little bumps in the night, leading her to invite the odd boy from Accumula Town to join her previously Pokémon-exclusive traveling group. Though she had no idea what N was doing out in the middle of the night in the first place.

* * *

.

**Chapter Seven**

_Something So Important_

.

Another night of sleep without dreams, another weight off of her chest…

At least that's what should have been the first thought that went through Touko's mind when she woke up. Instead she had the distinct image of having a leafy branch whack her in the back of her head…which she wasn't sure counted as a dream or just a thought.

Either way…

"Ow," Touko complained as she lifted her head from her pillow, though whatever hit her hadn't hurt at all. It was just a rather rude way to be woken up. She blinked her still sleepy eyes until they cleared enough to see Snivy standing before her, positively fuming and growling angrily.

Did he have his arms crossed? That was kind of adorable, actually…

Though he seemed less adorable as it slowly clicked in Touko's head that he was responsible for the "leafy branch" that woke her up, though now she recognized its true form as his tail.

_Rude._

She frowned and propped herself up to level a proper glare of disapproval at him. "What are you so worked up about?"

The grass Pokémon pointed, leading Touko's gaze to N, who was just standing there and looking mildly annoyed about something. Probably something that was Snivy's doing, judging by her short morning so far.

"Oh, yeah…" she murmured, remembering two very important things. The first was why N was there in the first place, because that struck her as odd for a couple of seconds. The second was the fact that Snivy seemed to have a problem with N.

The first was just typical disoriented, just-woke-up brain. That second thing was a little more embarrassing because there was plenty of time for it to occur to her last night.

"Relax, Snivy," Touko managed through a drawn out yawn. She sat up out of her sleeping bag and directed a small frown down at Snivy. "I don't know what your problem, but I can tell you, it's fine."

Snivy's particularly narrowed glare remained in place despite Touko's words and all his trainer could do was sigh; it was too early in the morning.

Instead she turned to N with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about Snivy. It's been a while since before, but he's still a little…I mean, _both_ of us actually, we're still trying to figure each other out."

While Touko tried to smooth things over with Snivy, N had gone from looking just annoyed to outright frustrated, thinking too hard about something. Touko still couldn't entirely understand, but this thing with Snivy really seemed bother him.

But something in her words broke his concentrated thought and he turned to her in surprise. "How long have you been traveling with Snivy?"

"Oh well…" Touko bit her lip and attempted to count the days. So much had already happened that she'd lost track. Had it been less than a month since she sat, frustrated in her math class? Now she was failing at putting those skills into practice out in the real world. In between fighting off hypocritical, delusional drones in medieval gear.

In the end, she went for the simple answer, "I met Snivy the day before I met you."

Whatever answer N was looking for, this didn't seem to be it, his face falling from surprise into a frown.

But he didn't say anything, so Touko tried again, "You know, back in Accumula Town…"

"I remember." He didn't elaborate further.

Touko pursed her lips. He was being weird again. He'd seemed so normal the night before, not saying quite so many _words_ in such a small space; though granted that was also in comparison to her own oddness that time. At this point, she was missing the original rambling. At least then she didn't have time to try and figure it out.

Or let her mind wander and remember embarrassing things. Pajama things…

She felt her face get hotter and she immediately huddled back down in her sleeping bag. "Hey…go somewhere for a minute."

After some awkward non-explanations, Touko got N to leave long enough so that she could make a dash into woods and change her clothes. The list of reasons why making him stay was a might have been a bad idea got a little longer when she remembered all of those differences between boys and girls. Differences this boy seemed to be oblivious to, considering how transparent she'd been.

"_I need to just run into the woods…get all trainer-looking again with my clothes and stuff…but it's daylight now…and you know." _He really didn't.

Despite that pesky bad idea list, she didn't say a peep to N about splitting up and was actually—if she admitted it—a little happy to see him when she got back. Traveling alone was, after all, lonely. And the things she'd said the night before weren't exactly wrong.

So, she perked up, her morning attitude fading away quickly as she ate breakfast with N and her Pokémon, who helped create a fun atmosphere. Except, of course, for Snivy who was sitting as close as possible to Touko and keeping a wary eye on N, barely even blinking. Luckily, only Snivy had this particular hang-up, while Panpour in particular seemed to be fascinated by N.

The only thing that might have been a little off was the fact that N's Pokémon didn't join them as well, but Touko decided not to bring it up. Don't rock that surfing Jellicent and all.

Somehow, after all of this and without a word spoken about it, the two just stayed together down the road to Nacrene, ending up as unlikely traveling companions.

"It looks like we're both on the same path for our trainer journey," Touko started up conversationally. "Who did you fight at the Striaton gym?"

"Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour."

Touko's eyebrows lifted at that. She noted that he didn't mention the leaders at all, but more importantly, it sounded like he had battled all three. "Wow…I only had to battle Chilli—I mean, Pansear. Why did you have to battle all three?"

"They asked what my first Pokémon was…I don't have a first Pokémon…I've had all sorts of friends with me as long as I can remember…From the beginning it was Zorua, Darmanitan, Woobat , then…"

_Where are all _those_ Pokémon?_ It seemed as if he'd go on all day if she let him, so she took a guess, "I get it. Because you didn't have a specific weakness."

N didn't seem to feel the need to confirm or deny and just kept walking silently beside her now that he wasn't listing off Pokémon.

Much of the morning's walk was like that. Touko would say something and N would often respond minimally to anything not about Pokémon. Even in those cases he'd often bring it around to Pokémon in ways that boggled Touko's mind.

Except…one time, when struggling for a topic of conversation, Touko started talking about how glad she was to be out of school and mentioned a specific formula in Geometry she had trouble with. That seemed to really spark something because N went on for about five minutes straight. Of course, Touko hadn't understood any of it and just nodded along, trying not to look too lost.

But despite the awkward (lack of) conversation, Touko reminded herself it was a lot better than the alternative of a solo trip through the wilderness. Especially when she considered it getting dark again.

If only Snivy would stop fidgeting in her arms every five seconds. She would have put him in his ball a while ago, except he actually _refused_. He didn't want to be anywhere that he couldn't keep an eye on N. Which he didn't indicate outright, but it seemed the safe assumption among everyone present, just not to be spoken aloud.

The point was, two hours down the road, she was already exhausted.

"Snivy, could you relax a little?" she tried in vain, as Snivy immediately switched to directing his glare at her. Her exhaustion was obviously her own fault for not worrying as well.

But Touko glanced over at N to see he'd stopped to rub Lillipup's belly and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

There was a lot of talk about Pokémon instincts, it being such a difficult thing to research. Pokémon clearing out before a disaster, saving their trainer from an unseen danger, going to shelter right before it started to rain. This didn't even get into psychic Pokémon, like Espeon. Whatever instincts Snivy might have were yet to be seen, but right now she'd assume they were faulty.

N sort of seemed like a kid who would have gotten picked on at school, talking so much without really saying much. _Does he even have any friends besides __Pokémon?_ Really, he just didn't seem dangerous to someone like Touko, who completely eradicated her own bullied status at age eight. Thereafter only dealing with _the boys_ the one time they tried to pick on Bianca instead.

Snivy, however, came upon a different feeling at the scene and hissed.

"_Snivy!_" Touko scolded, setting him down on the ground so she could properly look down at him, hands on her hips. He remained uncowed, but kept his glare over at N and Lillipup.

N's face seemed impassive, but Touko couldn't help but feel bothered on his behalf. Especially since this was just more proof that every other Pokémon got along with N just fine.

Lillipup rolled back onto his feet and began growling back at Snivy. Touko instantly regretted setting her charge on the ground, because Snivy looked ready for a fight, growling right back. A fight, between two teammates on _her_ team of Pokémon.

They started to get closer, growling at each other, until Touko swooped in and scooped each of them in an arm. "That's _enough_!"

They both stopped struggling when they caught sight of her livid expression. Once she was sure of their obedience again, she set them both on the ground, though with a respectable distance from each other. She fixed them with a glare and tried for folding her arms over her chest this time. Satisfied there would be no more fuss, she launched into her lecture.

"_Honestly_. You two are acting wild. I hope you realize that we're a team, all of us. You two, Purrloin, Panpour, Patrat, and _me_. There's no fighting allowed. Not like this. We don't fight each other and we don't fight in anger over _nothing_. Got it?"

Neither Pokémon fought this declaration, but Snivy remained stubbornly silent, while Lillipup at least had the decency to droop a little. Then they grumbled a little at each other, not aggressively, so Touko didn't step in again, but it didn't seem like friendly teammate

Touko let out a huff of air and looked to N, wondering about an outsider's view of her approach. He was sitting on the ground, watching the two Pokémon with undivided attention and didn't even glance at her. So, not much help there.

"Looks like we still need to cool our heads…Let's see…" Touko took a look around her surroundings, not expecting to see much until she caught sight of a blue roof.

She hadn't seen one in person before, but it looked like one of the Trainer Stations she knew to look out for thanks to her magazines. Well, that and a rather famous incident.

A few years ago, some mothers got into a tizzy over their kids wanting to go out and be trainers _right now_ rather than wait until they were thirteen. Coincidentally this wasn't long after a certain eleven-year-old Champion, the youngest ever, from the Indigo League. So, instead of just keeping the age at thirteen, a (small) group of parents campaigned to have the age restriction go even higher. Even though kids could still travel, own Pokémon, and battle with Pokémon. They just wouldn't get badges.

The whole thing had been silly in little Touko's eyes (as well as most of the rest of Unova), but she had to keep quiet as this wasn't very long after the "lake" incident and her start at any age was already at stake.

In the end, the compromise was to set up emergency stations with vending machines (for forgetful kids that didn't pack enough), chargers (for forgetful kids that didn't remember to charge their devices), and a phone (for the forgetful kids that had drained their devices' power).

It wasn't exactly a necessity for someone like Touko and her bulging bag of preparedness, but it would have something besides water or the crackers she had for snacking.

"Come on." She picked up Snivy again and lead the way, Lillipup trotting along behind her and N assumably catching up at some point.

It wasn't far, just slightly hidden from sight by the small ledge. Touko had jumped over taller ones. It was the sort of "I dare you" game to play in small towns. So, she nonchalantly just stepped down off the edge of the ledge.

So, what happened really shouldn't have happened. Jumping off of ledges wasn't a problem—old news, been doing it since she was six. The problem was the loose rock hiding in the grass where her foot happened to touch down.

The other problem was that both of her hands were taken up by holding Snivy. She was unwilling to drop him, instead holding him tightly in the split second, and took the fall instead. Luckily, she at least landed on top of her bag rather than meeting anymore unpleasant rocks. Perhaps less luckily, she heard the loud crunch of something breaking underneath her.

_I hate the person who first said jumping off of ledges is a good idea,_ Touko thought vindictively as she winced, both in pain and at the sound. She made a not to later hunt her memories for the smart aleck who came up with the idea in class. _Pretty sure it was a boy…_

"Are you okay, Snivy?" she asked, not wanting to move until she was certain of his safety. He gave her a quick nod and looked up at her with the same question in his eyes.

"All good!" she answered with a smile, but as she started to shift off of her bag, she heard another crunch and her smile dropped off. "Not sure if I can say the same for everything though…"

She pushed herself onto the ground next to her bag with a thump and set Snivy down beside her. Now she just had to figure out what to do about this latest dilemma.

_Touko White's Amazing Journey; a petty fight with a friend, knocked out by some incompetent idiots, and managed to break something with her butt. The ratings I could get on TV…_

The whole thing was looking less like an adventure and more like a series of nuisances. At least it was a small problem comparatively this time, but she still wasn't willing to face the damage just yet. What if it was the Pokédex that broke? _Professor Juniper will kill me…_

N and Lillipup finally caught up. N took the jump down the ledge much more cautiously, but as he touched down on the ground, Touko saw that his hand could still reach the ledge. And despite her current feelings for the old childhood game, she couldn't help but snort like she would have when she was eight. _Cheater._

Lillipup on the other hand just dived right off of the ledge and ran around as if he was missing out on some great adventure. Touko just rolled her eyes, wishing that Patrat had been the one out for a walk, she could use her only level-headed Pokémon right now.

"Why do you always have your Pokémon out of their Poké Balls? Snivy especially never seems to be in his…"

N had crouched down to her level on the ground, but Touko still found herself having to look up at him, adding to her irritation. "Do you really need to ask me about my training techniques _now_?"

"It's fine if you don't choose to answer. I'll just form my own conclusions instead."

Touko grunted noncommittally and let him do just that, instead picking herself up off of the ground. She'd assess the damage in that little hut they called a Trainer Station. It wasn't a very long time to procrastinate, but at least it was some.

Once they got inside, she laid out her collection of items gently, piece by piece, to see what had survived the fall. Potions, antidotes, and etc. were all still in tact. Most of what she brought from home was unbreakable (clothes and stuff), but all of her various little gadgets were fine, too. She heaved a sigh of relief over her still functioning Pokédex in particular

Unfortunately, when she got to checking her Poké Balls, the situation wasn't as perfect. As she looked at the six, she found two obviously damaged, broken in half; another was slightly crooked on its hinges, which looked minor, but with a Poké Ball…

"Agh! That only leaves three," Touko complained, frowning down at her broken supplies.

"You already have five Pokémon, why do you even need that many more?" N asked—quite unhelpfully as he had been since her fall, Touko might add—when he came over to look at the laid out Poké Balls.

She wasn't sure why this was the point of interest, but he was frowning as he looked down at her items, both broken and whole. She did, however know how to answer the question and held up one that promptly fell into two pieces. "Because they break."

"How many Pokémon do you intend to catch?"

She looked up at N, a small frown tugging at her face. Perhaps she was still sensitive, like with Cheren, but she got the distinct impression that she was being judged. "I don't know, _maybe_ just one? Part of it depends on how many more are going to be literally given to me."

"What do you mean?" N asked suspiciously.

Touko narrowed her eyes, holding his gaze and trying to read into the implications she thought she heard; the accusation that she was a frivolous trainer catching too many Pokémon. Even though she was just trying to do right by the ones she met. She practically burst with the urge to tell him about Panpour, about _that girl_. That was what a truly bad trainer was like.

But…he wasn't her friend. He didn't know her.

This fact settled in and Touko slowly relaxed. It wasn't wrong for him to wonder about what sort of trainer she was. She was the one that hadn't been suspicious enough so far (but drastic measures had to be taken when confronted with irrational fears).

Though…Touko couldn't help but still feel a little out of sorts at the other fact that went along with this little non-friends realization. She had an "acquaintance", someone she was talking pretty easily.

However, this realization seemed to push her in the other direction as she noticed she'd been staring—gaping really—for far too long and she lowered her gaze with a belated mumble of, "It's nothing."

Her "acquaintance" took the odd moment in stride, or at least he didn't insist on an answer to the question she took ages to brush aside.

_I'm still just defensive after being lectured by Cheren is all_, Touko decided with a small little nod to herself.

She looked around the small shelter for a distraction and set her eyes on a set of vending machines. She stood up, immediately putting on her most personable smile. "Hey, do you want anything from the vending machine? You can consider it as a late way of making up for Snivy's little…tantrum."

N looked thrown by the sudden topic change. "No, I'm fine. I don't need—"

"Yeah, I wasn't really asking for a 'no' option. More like, 'What do you want?'" Touko clarified and pressed a button on the machine without further delay. She chose lemonade because it was the most expensive option and would therefore do the best job at appeasing her guilt on Snivy's behalf.

Except, if she was honest, the treat was more of a thank you to N for keeping a scared stranger company. But since he didn't know that, she couldn't exactly thank him so openly.

"Here you go," Touko said and held it out to him with a smile.

He looked at it. Suspiciously.

_That_ was a little unreasonable. She might still be some odd amalgamation of stranger and acquaintance to him, but it was just a lemonade. That was free. So, she rolled her eyes and forcibly placed it in his hands. "You're welcome."

Then Touko got a soda for herself and plopped down on a bench against the wall. As she sipped from her can, she glanced up at N and noticed he was quite clearly not drinking. What more could a girl do after literally shoving it into his grip?

"If you don't like lemonade, you can give it to your Pokémon later."

At this comment, N's expression lightened; he _almost_ smiled, but then he looked back down at the lemonade in his hand and his expression soured. "You think that Pokémon like this. It's something that was made by people. It's not something grown like berries."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that lemon factory we passed on the way here," Touko replied with a roll of her eyes.

"It's _meant_ for humans."

"Pokémon seem to like it though," Touko replied with a shrug. To make her point, she offered her bottle to Snivy. However, he proved a poor choice for demonstration, as he simply turned his nose up at the drink and turned away from it with a dramatic flip of his tail to further prove his distaste.

Touko frowned down at Snivy, who she was quite sure she remembered sniffing conspiratorially over her soda at dinner one night. Since she survived the fall all right, it appeared he went right back to playing obstinate. She'd never figured Pokémon were petty enough to hold grudges like people, but she supposed if one was going to, it _would_ be Snivy.

"Snivy is an odd case," she explained, and to her surprise N nodded in agreement. She had to crack a small smile at the confused frown he wore whenever Snivy was about.

_It's really like he's never had a Pokémon dislike him before… _Touko may not have had a lot of experience with Pokémon, but that was at least one experience she knew.

Her dad's Bisharp had always blatantly disliked her. According to her dad, it was because Bisharp enjoyed battling so much and whenever they went home, he got cranky. And naturally, he decided that was Touko's fault because his trainer went home to see her. He was at least fair about it, extending his dislike to his trainer's wife as well, but Touko's mom had that little smirk that got him to at least by quiet about it.

It _had_ hurt; her dad's other Pokémon seemed to love her. She would never forget how guilty she felt the day that her father finally gave up Bisharp to another trainer, like it was somehow all her fault. She could still feel the stab of guilt at the memory, even though she knew full well that Bisharp was quite happy after the adjustment. She'd seen him once after and he even greeted her with a respectful bow.

So…maybe it wasn't that funny, Touko realized as the smile fell off her face. After all, her memory was from when she was _five_ and she still wasn't over it. She even wondered if it was a fair comparison, because at least she had Bianca and Cheren. All N seemed to have was Pokémon.

"Um…Lillipup likes drinks a lot I'm sure," Touko returned to the original—rather silly if she thought about it—topic on Pokémon and soda, hasty to get away from any more uncomfortable memories.

As soon as he heard his name, Lillipup came running over and this time when she made the offer, Touko got a far more positive reaction. Lillipup hopped up and down about fifteen times, at which point he started growling playfully at Touko's slow proceedings. She chuckled softly and dug a bowl out of her bag. Once the filled bowl was on the ground, Lillipup paid no further attention to Touko.

"See?" Touko looked up at N and sat back, arms folded over her chest and sporting a satisfied smile.

N looked down at the can of lemonade, then he offered it back to her. "Here. If your Pokémon like it, you can give it to one of them. Snivy, maybe."

Touko caught a little flinch from the aforementioned Pokémon and couldn't help but smirk a little. Snivy couldn't be so unreasonable to make a villain out of someone giving away their drinks to him. He could, however, be upset about this fact.

"Snivy can't have your apology drink. It entirely ruins the point." Touko turned back to N, though she still had a smile tugging at her lips. Finally, she gave in with a little laugh and took the can back. "You really do love Pokémon, don't you?"

"I don't just love Pokémon. I respect them. They're more important than anything and no one realizes that. Instead people use them and take them for granted," N said, shifting far too easily into that tone Touko would almost classify as rude.

"'Yes, of course,' would be fine," Touko replied with an unimpressed eyebrow raise. Which didn't have any effect at all upon its target. With a huff, she looked back down at her broken Poké Balls and started fiddling with one for a distraction.

Her impromptu traveling companion had been drifting somewhere between funny and mildly disconcerting to her all morning. She was starting to get an idea as to why.

"You were in the crowd too, when I saw Team Plasma that day in Accumula Town…" Touko began; she lifted her face slightly to meet N's eyes without fully exposing her face (and therefore misgivings) to him. "What do you…"

_What do you think about Team Plasma's ideals?_ It wasn't a hard question to ask, but she hesitated. Once again, she reminded herself that she and N weren't friends, so it wasn't a problem to disagree on something so important.

Except…it was _something so important_.

So, Touko steeled herself, ready to ask again, until she noticed that the target of her question seemed distracted. She turned to look at what grabbed his attention and saw two trainers had arrived outside the little rest stop, talking away about who knows what.

They were a couple of boys, probably around her age. All in all, just looking like typical trainers from what little she could see of them. They were still loitering outside the shelter instead of just coming in.

_Not really worth noticing…_ Touko thought, especially taking the look of distaste on N's face into consideration. Until she actually listened to their conversation.

"The Pokémon on this route are so weak. I don't know why we both going into the grass at all."

"I know, there's no good Pokémon. It's barely worth it for the training. What's the point if the opponent is weak?"

"How many have you brought down just today? It's been about ten for me."

"Lost count by now."

Touko's grip tightened on the broken Poké Ball. She stood up and walked to the edge of the shelter to get a better look at the loudmouths. Neither of them had any Pokémon out, but she could see a full collection of six on each of their belts.

"Even the common Pokémon around here are useless at just looking the way they should. That Patrat man…"

At that, they both laughed, and Touko's frown deepened. It couldn't be…

"Barely a hit from Scolipede, right?"

_Scolipede!? A fully evolved… _

"Yeah, what a waste. Shame you have to deal with this to get the Trio badge, since everything is as useless as that—"

The rest of the trainer's words were cut off when Touko's broken Poké Ball made contact with the back of his head and snapped cleanly in two.

She hadn't given it any thought in advance, but at the word "useless" she couldn't take it the Poké Ball was suddenly flying out of her hand at a target that was far from its intended purpose.

But seeing as it was broken, it was probably all right. Not like it could be used for that purpose anymore.

Scratch that, it wasn't all right at all. It seemed Snivy might have picked up his unfortunate little temper from her.

After the shock was over, both of the trainers turned to her. "What is your _problem!_?" the injured party shouted, "You—!"

No doubt he was about to call her something foul, so Touko felt free to interrupt, taking a particularly righteous stance despite clearly being the aggressor. "It's not just my problem! The whole world's problem is people like you!"

"Unlike crazy girls who go throwing stuff at people!?" the boy cried out in disbelief. He looked at his friend. "What was that anyway?"

"Poké Ball," his friend replied, picking up one of the broken halves.

"I'm not a Pokémon, you idiot!" he shouted, turning back on Touko.

"Obviously, because if you were you'd have some respect for your opponents," Touko replied with as much disdain as she could muster. "The Patrat you found couldn't have been older than a couple of weeks. You can tell that by looking at her. You didn't need to use Scolipede."

"What, you found it?"—Touko frowned at his use of 'it' when he'd very clearly been provided the option to say 'her.'—"Are you so weak you have to take up other trainers' remains?"

"Better that than be too stupid to know what level of power is necessary against a baby," she snapped back. "You go on about how it wasn't even worth it, so why did you do it? Even if that Patrat did jump out at you—which I really doubt—are you telling me that you couldn't have just walked away? A Pokémon that small…"

"It's still a Pokémon," the boy argued with a look of derision.

Touko's lips pressed into a tight line. There was no reasoning with this idiot. "I challenge you to a battle."

At that, the boy laughed out loud. "Come on. We were just complaining about how weak everything around here is and your solution is for us to fight you? A girl?"

"Do you enjoy repeating the cliché insults of an eight-year-old boy? Are you afraid of cooties, too?" She paused and then smirked. "Oh, I got it. Tell me I throw like a girl, too."

The boy's smirk fell right off his face, though his friend snorted. After a quick glare directed at his traitor, he turned back to Touko. "Fine, if it'll get you to shut up, I'll gladly kick your butt. I bet you're from Accumula Town, for crying out loud."

Touko ignored the insult to the town, but he was lucky he didn't get it right because she wouldn't tolerate it against Nuvema Town. But despite all her bravado, she may have just gotten into a bad situation. The fact was that no one of her team could stand up to a Scolipede. And who knew what else he had on his team.

Except…

He'd used Scolipede without hesitation against Patrat. Why not any other Pokémon? No matter how stupid this boy was, she doubted he was just overdoing it for the sake of overdoing it.

There were two reasonable possibilities excluding an amount of ruthlessness she didn't want to consider. Either Scolipede was his weakest Pokémon or…Perhaps he was just in the habit of using Scolipede all the time. She heard that happened with trainers and their starters sometimes.

In those cases, the other members of the team would often get neglected and he had six; an awful lot of Pokémon to train responsibly.

Touko smirked. It was a risk, but she was willing to bet on it.

"So, if I'm so weak, you should be able to beat me with your weakest Pokémon, right?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, and Touko knew she'd guessed right. But he shook his head with a smirk, reassuring himself and responded, "_Easily_."

"Then that's my challenge: my weakest Pokémon against your weakest."

At this, the boy looked visibly reassured. He'd had a glimmer of doubt that he wouldn't be able to defeat Touko's strongest Pokémon with his weakest. But weakest against weakest, of course his would be better.

What he was too stupid to know was that not everyone thought like him. Touko didn't have a "weakest Pokémon."

Sure, she considered Snivy her strongest, but each one of her Pokémon had their drawbacks and strengths. Snivy was a good fighter, but someday his pride might be his downfall; Panpour was a fast learner, but he was still adjusting; Lillipup never gave up, but sometimes that was the problem; Patrat took everything seriously, but sometimes he'd miss something important; Purrloin, she'd begun to learn, may be lazy, but had a cunning unsurpassed by any other.

Touko did not believe in the notion of a weak Pokémon, but by her opponent's reasoning, she knew Purrloin would be the one she'd have to send out.

"So, what do you say?" Touko asked, already taking out Purrloin's Poké Ball.

"Let me see yours to make sure you're not cheating."

She raised an eyebrow—_she_ was the untrustworthy one?—but let out Purrloin anyway and ignored his snicker. She wanted the chance to talk to Purrloin anyway before battle, especially since she was already curling up to take a nap.

"Purrloin, if you put your all into this battle, I won't disturb you for the rest of the route," she promised her Pokémon. It proved to have little effect, because the dark-type only yawned at her.

"You have to bribe your Pokémon? How pathetic!" her opponent taunted.

Touko frowned. She knew Purrloin would fight back once hit by the opponent, but that would require getting hit. She had to think fast.

Luckily, Lillipup came trotting over at the first whiff of Purrloin, though recognizing a battle, he plopped down next to Touko rather than ruin it. One look at Purrloin's tormenter was enough to spark an idea. An idea about a certain silly topic she'd been involved in just a few minutes ago. "_And_…I will give you an entire bottle of MooMoo milk."

Purrloin's ear twitched at that. Then she got up, deliberately slowly, and stretched. However, once this action was complete, Purrloin sat up at attention, the fighting gleam Touko so often saw with her other Pokémon in her eye.

_Never estimate a Pokémon's love of beverages,_ Touko noted to herself.

"So, I suppose you're fine with Purrloin?" She turned her attention to her opponent.

"Yeah, it's fine," he replied, shaking his head with a smile.

Touko smirked. Overconfidence in one's opponent was always a good thing. Well, as long as it was unjustified.

That reminded her… "So, you saw mine…"

"Right, I guess it'd be…Darumaka!" he called out dramatically, as if it was supposed to bring fear to her just at the name.

Though Touko had to admit she did flinch when she saw the red fire Pokémon, but that had nothing to do with the Pokémon itself.

_Darumaka live in the desert_, she noted and repressed a shudder. _So, it likely hasn't traveled too far. Just from route 4._

Still, it came from a tougher area. On paper, it would be stronger and the likely victor. She'd have to play the strategizer for a change. Good thing Purrloin was just the Pokémon for that.

If she wasn't wrong—and she was sure she wasn't, because certain events made the Pokémon of the desert ingrained in her mind—Darumaka had a little bit of trouble with accuracy on their physical attacks. Not to an extreme degree, but…

She could make it extreme.

"Are you ready, stupid girl?"

"My name is Touko," she replied flatly. His grade school dislike for girls was just starting to become pathetic. Honestly, teenagers should be well beyond "girls are icky." After all, she'd moved past that into an awkwardness with both boys and girls at her school a long time ago.

"Weird name."

Touko pursed her lips. It wasn't a new comment, but it had been a while…everyone in Nuvema Town knew everyone else. Even her. But she didn't feel like playing the "how dare you insult my culture" trick today when she could just shut him up with the battle.

"Well, I'll only let you hear my name after I win. That way you'll never forget your mistake here today."

"Yeah, that's okay…it's not worth knowing anyway…"

Her opponent ignored the comment and turned to his friend, "Brian, you tell us when to start!"

"Wh-what? Leave me out of it, man…" By this point, her opponent's friend was looking a little uncomfortable with the situation's sudden escalation.

"You're the only one around, it has to be you!"

_The only one…_ Until that point Touko had forgotten almost entirely about her fellow traveler.

She looked over her shoulder to see N standing back at the shelter, surprisingly with Snivy next to him. Though Touko guessed that was because they were both in the best position to see the strange events unfold.

Suddenly, she couldn't help but feel self-conscious. She tried to go over in her head everything that she'd done that might have made her look bad to someone. Seeing as that started with her throwing an object at a stranger…

"Ready, go!"

_Crap!_

"Headbutt!" Darumaka dived at Purrloin.

"Sand attack!" Touko responded quickly, despite her surprise. It helped that Purrloin was ready; she dodged to the side, swiping at the ground and spraying the dirt out at her opponent. Darumaka fell face first onto the ground where she once stood.

Purrloin glanced back at Darumaka and Touko could have sworn she heard something like a snicker.

Well, dark-type was dark-type, after all.

Touko smiled, already her mind cleared of everything but the battle. But the minor celebration was brief; Darumaka was already back up and ready to go. "Keep going, Purrloin. Make sure he can't hit you!"

Even in her strategy, she still tended to run things the same way. Purrloin kept dodging each attack and spraying dirt at her opponent. With each set, it got easier and easier to dodge.

"Tackle!" "Headbutt!" "Fire fang!"

She heard her opponent call out attack after attack, but none of them hit the mark.

However, Purrloin got complacent and received a hit from rollout which knocked her down. But, it was her first hit and Purrloin was up and ready for the next round, breaking rollout's streak at just one.

"Rollout is a great attack, but I have to say it's not as effective when you can barely even hit once," Touko called across their little battlefield.

Her opponent gritted his teeth and ignored the banter, calling for more attacks.

So far, there had been headbutt, tackle, rollout, and fire fang. Every attack was a physical attack. Touko smirked, her plan worked better than she would have thought. At that point, it was almost impossible for Darumaka to get a hit on Purrloin.

Time to go on the offensive.

Purrloin's only straightforward attack was scratch, which would get her close enough for Darumaka to have an easier time finding her. But assist…

With assist, Purrloin would call an attack from one of her teammates. One of her teammates was Panpour, water-type.

The first move was probably the least useful thing Purrloin could call forth with her paw, illustrating the problem with the gamble; Snivy's vine whip didn't have much of an effect. But it didn't hurt Purrloin or help Darumaka either. Touko stuck to the plan.

Next time, Purrloin dived in with Lillipup's bite. Purrloin hadn't learned any dark-type moves yet, but she certainly wielded one right with help, doing enough damage to make her opponent flinch and give Touko and Purrloin some breathing room.

However, when Purrloin dived in again with Patrat's tackle, Touko's fears about using scratch before came true. Darumaka took the chance and bit his opponent with a flaming mouth.

Purrloin jumped back, but too late. She was already burned and quite hurt.

"One more time!" Touko commanded, undeterred. Assist was random, but at some point the odds would turn in their favor. Darumaka was already quite hurt from the bite, a couple more hits might be enough to finish him off. Purrloin could at least survive that…

Touko didn't have to worry for long. Purrloin waved her paw, and a giant stream of water came shooting out, hitting Darumaka straight on.

Before the attack cleared, Touko let out a relieved breath; she knew it was over.

Purrloin turned back to her and Touko smiled, kneeling on the ground with her arms open. "Come here, girl." And Purrloin responded with a leisurely stroll over, immediately curling up in Touko's arms and falling promptly to sleep. Touko gave her a good look-over, Purrloin didn't seem too badly hurt, except for the burn, but the sight of that was enough to make Touko's heart ache for her injured Pokémon.

"I'm proud of you…" she whispered into Purrloin's ear.

Meanwhile, Touko's still nameless opponent was standing dumbfounded, staring at his fainted Darumaka.

Touko stood up tall, cradling the sleeping Pokémon. "You know, I don't have any weak Pokémon."

His head immediately snapped up. "You cheated! You said our weakest!"

"_You_ accepted Purrloin as weak. I don't." Touko stubbornly stuck out her chin. "I don't believe in weak Pokémon."

"You're one of _those_…" he replied in disgust. "Figures, since you're a girl…"

"Yup, 'one of those' and a girl who just kicked your butt. I'd think you might take that into consideration." She paused, waiting for it to sink in. It didn't seem to. She let out an exasperate sigh. "Look, you didn't win because you don't train all of your Pokémon. You play favorites to the ones you think are strong. How many times have you even sent Darumaka out into battle since you got him? None, right? That's how you were able to come up with him so quickly as your 'weak' one."

"That's the way I do things. You don't have to butt in. It's not your problem."

"But it's not just your Pokémon you hurt with that system!" Touko shouted, losing her patience again. "To you, it's just weak versus strong, as if that's all that matters. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Each and every Pokémon is different!"

At the last shout, Purrloin fidgeted in her arms. So, Touko let out a deep breath to relax herself, then set Purrloin down on the ground so she wouldn't disturb her further.

"My problem is how you treated that Patrat. Wild Pokémon aren't like trained Pokémon. No one is there to look out for them. Sure, most of them do just fine after a battle, but even then, why would you fight a Pokémon you don't want? Self-defense, sure, but _training_?" Touko clenched her hands into fists and stood back up. "Pokémon aren't meant to be _used_!"

At this, the boy finally seemed silent and the two watched each other across their former battlefield. Then without another word, he finally called Darumaka back to his Poké Ball and turned to his friend. "Come on, Brian. Let's go. It can't be too far to Striaton City now."

Then the two trainers silently walked past her and on down the route to Striaton City.

Touko stared blankly ahead, not sure what to think now that the adrenaline was fading. Just…Nuvema Town wasn't like this. Granted it was a small town—of which Touko had an even smaller participation in—but it had been her world. Not this world.

As the shock and anger faded, Touko found the most unpleasant thing lurking underneath: disappointment.

_All a part of growing up I guess…_

Lillipup trotted over again, having caught on that the fight was over, and immediately started sniffing around Purrloin. Touko nudged him away with her foot and kneeled back down in between her two Pokémon, feeling that even more than usual, Purrloin deserved her peace.

She smiled down at Purrloin, her pride overwhelming everything else until she got another look at that burn. She leaned in closer for an examination and Purrloin twitched, even though Touko hadn't even touched the burn. She sat back up, her brow furrowed in concern.

Touko felt a small tap on her back and looked behind her to see Snivy looking back in a reflection of her worry. The grudges were again forgotten in times of trouble.

"Looks like we're in trouble, Snivy." Touko tried for a forced smile to belie her words so the situation wouldn't seem so severe. It didn't work. Snivy only frowned, seeing through her trick. He moved closer and nudged her with his head.

She sighed and managed a slightly more honest smile as she pet Snivy atop his head. Lillipup looked between Touko and Purrloin, worried glances for each, and Touko decided she had to figure out a plan. At this rate she was just worrying her Pokémon.

It was supposed to take between 4-5 days to get to Nacrene City. Going all the way back to the daycare now for another favor, especially one that wasn't quite so serious, didn't seem too helpful. If nothing else, maybe Purrloin would just have to stay in her Poké Ball so she couldn't get hurt any further. It was the best plan, but not a plan Touko liked very much. Purrloin being away from her sight for so long…

"Here."

Touko looked up at N in confusion. Until then he'd stayed well out of her dilemma. Now he was holding a blue berry out to her. Berries weren't too common in Unova, so it took some searching in her mind to remember which one…a rawst berry, the one that should naturally heal Purrloin's burn.

"What…why…" she began, dumbfounded. Why help her now after spurning her own attempts to be nice?

"Purrloin…your Pokémon is hurt…This will help the burn."

"Y-you don't have…" Touko started with an embarrassed stammer, looking back down. But that kind of "selfless" perspective in this case was looking a lot more like selfishness. Purrloin was hurt, what did Touko's pride matter in a case like that? So, Touko swallowed her objection and took the berry without further complaint.

As soon as she gave the berry to Purrloin, her Pokémon perked right up, and then (of course) proceeded to fall back down to maintain appearances. But the visible burn was fading. It was amazing how quickly these things worked.

"Thank you…Purrloin would have been in some trouble without you…" she murmured, feeling uncomfortable at the debt she didn't know how to pay back. Apparently he didn't like drinks.

"You don't have to thank me. I carry them around for hurt Pokémon, so of course…" N paused for a moment, appearing thoughtful as he looked down at Touko. "You would do the same thing, too, right?"

"If I _could_," Touko replied, looking back up at him with a frown. "I'm not capable of it. I can't buy burn heal yet. As for berries…where did you find that anyway? I almost never see berries."

"They're around if you look," N replied with a very stiff shrug, like he wasn't quite used to nonchalance. "Though they are supposed to be rarer in Unova than some other regions. Because Unova has so much urban development it becomes more difficult to find certain things. Pokémon here are much more likely…"

It seemed that N was on some sort of roll, so she took the moment to exchange a look with Snivy. It looked like her grass-type Pokémon had let his hostility fall down a few notches. After N's help in healing Purrloin, Snivy was reevaluating the odd trainer. If Snivy was going to rethink things, Touko certainly felt she might have to.

She stood up, folding her arms over her chest. She inserted herself into the very next pause in N's stream of words. "So, you just carry around berries."

"Ones I find," N clarified, looking unbothered by the interruption. "If I find a hurt Pokémon, I have to help them. It's the least I can do for my friends."

"Even if they're not yours…" Touko affirmed, already having a good idea about the response; a small smile was tugging at her lips.

"It's not different. All Pokémon are my friends."

"Even the weak ones?"

"There's no—"

"—no such thing," Touko finished with him, unable to contain her smile now.

She let out a small laugh at the confused look on N's face, but quickly collected herself. She tilted her head to the side inquisitively. "You really do love Pokémon, right?"

Before N could reply in the same way as her had before, Touko let her full, unrestrained smile go. "It's ok. I already know."

**XWXWXWXWX**

The afternoon was passing by a lot more pleasantly than the morning. Touko couldn't figure out why she'd had such trouble talking with N before. Sure there was only one topic that they could keep up with each other on, but since that topic was Pokémon, the possibilities were endless!

There was just one problem…

Every time a Pokémon jumped out of the grass to attack them, when Touko's Pokémon counterattacked, N would look really distressed. He didn't look angry, or anything, just sad and worried. Which was a lot worse in Touko's opinion. She could deal with anger, in fact she was proving to excel at any confrontation. However this…

It was making her feel like a bully…but it wasn't even like she wanted to hurt Pokémon!

She was starting to see how someone like N could possibly fall for Plasma's shtick. She was quite glad for the moment that she had kept the story about Panpour to herself and for a while she contemplated telling him about how awful Team Plasma was to Munna in the Dreamyard instead. That way he would know they were hypocrites like she did.

_But_…she figured that would just upset him more and she didn't really want that either.

Touko sighed after fighting off a Pidove. N was now taking care of the hurt Pokémon, glancing back at her every so often with an expression she couldn't quite figure out. Was he upset? Mad? Sad? Concerned? Disappointed? All the above…?

All she knew was that each time he did so, she felt a stab of guilt which was _completely unreasonable_. It's not even like she was just beating up on wild Pokémon to help train her own. They were jumping out at them first. And she was helping protect _him_ too.

If she could, she would just stay out of the wild grass entirely, but it was impossible. The only other option left would be to try to run, but she was quite sure it wouldn't end well if they encountered one of the Blitzles she knew were sure to be around.

She paced back and forth while N continued tending to the animal. Finally, she sighed in defeat. She walked over cautiously and took a potion out of her bag, handing it over to N. When he took the peace offering from her, she decided it was safe and sat down beside him.

"Hey, um…I'm sorry that I…well, I'm sorry." It was a pretty weak apology, but she still wasn't quite sure what she was sorry for.

"It's okay," N mumbled. Probably the slowest she'd ever heard him…and she realized it was because he was _sulking_. This tall, older boy was sulking.

She hadn't seen a boy sulk about since she was twelve. After that point, they preferred brooding; it fit better with the teenage angst. Specifically, she was sure Cheren hadn't sulked since he was ten, after which point he decided to go with passive-aggressive jabs instead.

Clearly this wasn't okay at all.

She sat back on the grass and let out a huff of air. There had to be an easier way. Perhaps she should suggest that they part ways. But as she looked at N, she realized that wasn't an option. It really would make her feel like a bully. It felt essentially like saying, "I don't like being around you" especially since _she_ was the one that made _him_ stick around in the first place.

She rested her cheek on her hand and watched N. The Pidove seemed to be more lively now, so N was smiling just a bit. _How does he manage these roads on his own if he doesn't want to fight back? I haven't even seen his Purrloin since our fight in Accumula._

She sat upright. Of course, that very question _was_ the answer. She scooted closer to her temporary companion, a smile back on her face. "Hey, N. How do you handle it when wild Pokémon attack you when you're on your own?"

He looked at her and the spoke as if it were completely obvious, "I talk with them."

"Ah…oh yeah, that's right. I forgot you can do that. Talk and understand and…stuff…" She wasn't going to discount the ability entirely like Cheren seemed to, but she had to admit she still had her doubts, even after meeting him on Route 2. After all, it's not like it made sense for Snivy to randomly dislike him because he was being "protective" or whatever (though the fact that Snivy did not like N was undeniable).

But options were short, so perhaps it was worth a try.

And if it were true…wouldn't it be an amazing thing to see?

"Alright N, what do you say you take the lead for a while? That way no Pokémon will get hurt. Since, y'know…I can't really understand like you can."

N lifted Pidove from the ground and looked at the Pokémon for such a long time that Touko wasn't sure that he heard her. But when Pidove flew off into the air, he turned back to Touko. "Then I'll show you," he informed her with determination in his eyes. Then he stood up, towering over her.

Touko looked up at him a little guiltily. "Ah…okay…" She stood as well, holding Snivy in her arms and looking a little sheepish. Perhaps N had noticed that she still didn't quite believe him.

For a long time, she followed behind N silently without a single incident of Pokémon charging at them in the grass. Which was probably a good thing, except Touko found herself getting itchy at the silence oddly enough. It would have been easy to fix, but it was just too awkward to talk until N—hopefully—proved himself.

_Doubt he'd even say anything back anyway since apparently I keep doing things wrong…_

As it turned out, the world is very careful in its allotment of danger. If nothing was happening for a while, it meant something big was on the way.

Bouffalant were very big.

Touko let out a very undignified squeak of fear upon sight of the large Pokémon coming out of the grass. She covered her mouth, but too late; they'd been noticed. However, the Bouffalant made no move, only watching them warily.

Then, to her horror, N took a step forward as if there was nothing to be afraid of. Touko quickly grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing?" she whispered, so as not to attract more attention.

"There's a Bouffalant. He's scared that we're on his territory, so I'm just going to go reassure him," N explained at a normal volumed, not sharing Touko's concernes. He took his arm out of her grip, though at least stayed put, saving Touko from a young death by heart attack.

"There aren't supposed to be any Bouffalant in this area! I'll show you…" Touko started digging through her bag, trying to find some information that backed up this claim—though she wasn't even sure if it would be in the town map or Pokédex or whatever else she had. Eventually, she just gave up, throwing her arms in the air. "My point is this isn't his territory! This is really dangerous."

"You're right," N replied seriously, causing Touko let out a sigh of relief, until he added, "He must be lost," and walked off toward the Bouffalant before Touko could stop him again.

All she could do was watch helplessly, her knees locked to prevent shaking. She wasn't sure that any of her Pokémon could stand up to Bouffalant. Such a huge Pokémon…and all of hers were small enough to fit right in her arms.

However, as time went by, Touko slowly realized that nothing was happening. At first the Bouffalant was looking quite aggressive, then as N talked to the Pokémon, saying things she couldn't hear, it calmed down. Then N was pointing—giving directions?—and Bouffalant was on its way. No harm done.

Touko stared, completely dumbfounded. _He really…he really can…_

She'd thought a lot of things about N so far. He was weird; she thought that one a lot. He was really difficult to understand. Just today, she found out he was really smart, which made him even more difficult to understand. The most important thing had been that he really did love Pokémon.

Now, as the sun was setting and N turned back and gave her a little satisfied smile, because he proved to her how silly she was being, she found her thoughts halted in her amazement.

As she thought back on N's confident stride as he walked toward the Bouffalant without fear, now that she knew it wasn't a silly risk because he obviously knew what he was doing…

For a moment—just a moment—she'd thought he _might_ have looked a little cool. Even though it was by talking instead of with a dramatic battle, he'd sort of saved the day like the heroes on TV she'd always idolized. In fact, the way he did it was a lot more impressive.

Snivy poked her in the face—which, must have looked pretty weird by now, all crumpled up in badly hidden embarrassment from her childish thoughts—to make sure she was still responsive. Touko swatted his little hand away, actually glad for the distraction.

Now that the situation was handled, N was making his way back and Touko quickly decided to find that the nearby trees were fascinating.

"He was lost, but he's going back to his home now." From the corner of her eye, Touko could see that N was still smiling, something she found distracting because he hadn't done much of that until now.

"Mm…" she mumbled stiffly. She glanced over at him once more before abruptly turning to look down the path again. "Well, good. Now we can keep moving onto Nacrene City."

Touko wasn't sure if she expected N to lead the way or what, but for whatever reason, despite what she just said, she stayed standing in the middle of the pathway.

After a while, she looked back, and N was looking back at her, waiting for something. Just like that, the words sort of fell out.

"Hey…N?"

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say…thanks for coming with me."

In the middle of everything else, she wasn't sure why that little hidden thought was the one that decided to pop out. She was just a little surprised that it didn't embarrass her…

"It's no problem. I wanted to come…"

…and even more surprised at how the answer made her happy.

Instead of forcing her smile down, but faced forward again to keep it to herself. "Still, thanks." And without another word for either, Touko lead the way down the path again.

This time, even though their short journey before the sun fully set remained silent, she found she wasn't minding it quite so much anymore.

* * *

**Note on Updates:** Hay! I had to rewrite this entire chapter (and the next one…which were once one) so that mostly explains the gigantic fall of the schedule track. My plan is to still update every 5-7 days, but history is not on my side at remaining on track. So! I'm on tumblr [ .com] and I have something resembling a solution.

When I can't update on the seventh day of my already flexible schedule, I will instead post a quick preview on tumblr. Since it proves I'm working. So, follow me on tumblr for that stuff! It's just been a lot of fun in general, too. I regret being a fandom hermit for so long.

**Note on Trainer Stations: **The "trainer station," as you might be able to tell, my reconciliation with the fact that children are regularly tossed out into the wilderness in this world. I will never get over how okay everyone is with kids doing this incredibly dangerous stuff and I grew up reading Harry Potter, too. I think it's Cynthia in Platinum being like, "Hey! child! Come into this black hole with me. Then battle the villain. Then battle that world-distorting Pokemon." that did me in at some point. (I say this, but I love it really…It just distracts me when I'm writing.)

It also made for a meeting place that doesn't reek of too much coincidence for the battle scene. I still messed something up about the timing, but just in case no one will notice, I won't say what here.

**Note on Next Chapter:** This and the next are kind of a two-parter, so I'll have a bit more to say next time that sort of applies to this chapter. I'm saving it up so it stays a little bit short. Thanks for your patience!


	8. Stars in the Night Sky

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 6-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously:** Touko continued on the route to Nacrene City with N as her traveling companion. Despite some problems at first (including a certain grass-type Pokémon), after an encounter with some selfish trainers and finally seeing N talk with a Pokémon, Touko begins to think of N as more than a convenience or the weird boy from Accumula Town.

* * *

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**Chapter Eight**

_Stars in the Night Sky_

.

"It's pretty amazing though, isn't it?"

"I don't know…it isn't exactly complicated or difficult…I just listen and talk…"

"That sort of makes it more amazing, doesn't it?"

N shrugged. He was getting better at that the more Touko pestered him with questions about his unique ability.

They'd run into a surprising number of Pokémon before nightfall and with each encounter Touko got over her uncertainty, though she remained quietly in awe. However, she was buzzing with excitement and by when they stopped to camp, she finally started in on the questions.

Not that she'd gotten any satisfactory answers, but that hadn't diminished her enthusiasm in the slightest.

Finished with the short camp set up, Touko sat down on top of her sleeping bag, her Pokémon all spread out in a half-circle around her (except Lillipup and Purrloin who were currently doing laps around the camp with Touko too distracted to notice). She tilted her head to the side, looking at N expectantly.

N sat across from her and had come to the decision to ignore her since she stopped asking questions. Already he'd gotten involved in some sort of conversation with Panpour that Touko could only half-follow about how superior bananas were to peanuts. She decided to let the strangeness of this conversation go, figuring that Panpour was talking about his preference in food (or rather, she really, really hoped it was Panpour).

Instead she remained silent, watching N with her big blue eyes.

Finally, she had successfully gotten to him, because N turned back to her with a frown. "What?"

"I was wondering what sort of things Pokémon say. Like how they say them and stuff. Can you translate it directly into, you know, people-speak?"

N needed a little bit of time to process the multiple implied questions, or perhaps just the term "people-speak", so Touko waited as patiently as before, smiling pleasantly.

"You mean…can I tell you what your Pokémon say?"

"_Oh yeah_," Touko perked up at the previously unnoticed benefit. "That would be awesome. Can you?"

N frowned, and with the long time it took to answer Touko was wondering if he might be thinking about refusing. Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to. Which, now that Touko thought about it, wasn't unreasonable. It felt like she was using N as some sort of tool, just a translator for her Pokémon…

She lowered her eyes, smile fading. In a soft voice, she tried to fix her misstep, "Of course, you don't have—"

"What do you want to ask them?"

Touko's eyes darted back up, looking carefully at N's face to make sure he was really offering. But of course he was. Was he even capable of lying? It seemed like whatever popped into his head would just fall right out of his mouth. After just a day, she'd taken to just smiling and rolling her eyes every time he said something a little rude.

"Um…" she looked around at her Pokémon. Panpour looking up at N and Snivy sulkily darting glares at him; Purrloin and Lillipup were still running in circles; as usual, Patrat was the only one who wasn't involved in any sort of conflict, just a bystander watching it all unfold.

"Well, I guess I want to know what my Pokémon want to say to me. That's the most important thing."

At this, Patrat perked up, he looked at Touko for a moment, causing the trainer to tilt her head in confusion. Then he ran over to N and immediately started chattering away. Both trainers stared at Patrat in surprise, though N less so the more Patrat went on. There seemed to be an awful lot to say. Enough time passed for Touko to reflect that it didn't seem fair that Patrat understood her pretty well.

Really made you think about who was actually in charge…

Finally, Patrat stopped and N looked to Touko, hesitating for a moment before relaying the message. "…He wanted to thank you for saving the other Patrat yesterday."

"Oh…" Touko fidgeted, unsure what she should say in response to either Patrat or N. She didn't really intend for N or anyone else to know about the incident. Complaining about trainers caused trouble back in Striaton City with Cheren, an incident she didn't want to repeat.

Patrat was looking to her, waiting for the response, so she gave him a smile. He walked back over and laid down by her feet, warming Touko's heart as well as her toes. The smile appeared to be enough.

As for N… "He sure makes a lot of noises for such a short statement, huh?" she tried with a little laugh.

"So, it really was you. You saved that Patrat…and that's why you got into the fight with the trainers. They were the ones responsible."

There was a lot in that quick speech for Touko to confirm, but with her brow lifting in surprise she had her own confirmation to make. "You already knew?"

"Patrat told me last night. He was looking for family of the one you helped and found me talking to them. Then he told me what happened."

"That…answers some questions." It really answered almost everything odd about the previous night and a little bit of that day, too. Patrat's sudden departure from their camp, N being around that area in the middle of the night, maybe even why he'd been so quiet and gave her those weird _analyzing_ looks.

Normally, she'd be all for letting the matter go at having an answer, but somehow she felt a little offended. "So, what? You didn't believe Patrat and that's why you've been so…" _Weird_. "…quiet?"

"I believed Patrat," N insisted, in much his usual tone of conviction, but then he faltered before continuing, shaking his head in frustration. "It just doesn't make sense for a trainer to go to all that trouble for a Pokémon that isn't theirs."

"What are you talking about? Lots of trainers are like that," Touko replied immediately. She could list them off in her head, Bianca, Cheren, the gym leaders seemed the sort; she had direct proof when it came to N. _Seriously_. He was the one saying it, so he should know this already. Then there were people who used to be trainers like her parents and the professor. They must have…

"The trainers you fought today aren't like that at all."

The statement stopped Touko cold.

There was the girl from Striaton City, too…

But she wasn't even a trainer! It was silly. Her list of trainers outnumbered just those two. Even just N and her canceled them out.

"Sure, they have a problem. It doesn't mean everyone else does, too. There's a lot of good out there," Touko explained with vague optimism and her friendliest smile.

For a moment, Touko thought she had successfully persuaded N out of whatever cynical corner he was frequenting. Purrloin had decided to take refuge on his lap and N happily obliged the lazy Pokémon by petting her. Satisfied with the silence, Touko took to cheering up the now sulking Lillipup as well.

Until…"Why did you let them go?"

Her smile fell in her defeat. Clearly, this topic was not going to be dropped so easily.

She sighed in exasperation, resting her chin on her hand. "I'm not the police, N. I can't stop them from going."

"You could if you wanted to…" he said it like a stubborn child. She almost expected to see him pouting and sulking like before, though he only continued to frown at her. Because somehow he really thought it was that simple.

_He really is like a child, _Touko thought, raising her eyebrows. His peculiarities wouldn't have seemed that odd if he was half his age.

"I wish you'd tell me how exactly," Touko snapped—_tried_ to snap. Somehow, her irritation just sort of fell away into a sulky tone of her own. "I'm not going to pretend like that victory means me and my team are stronger. I just…sort of guessed right. I've been a trainer less than a month. I have one badge. We're not strong enough yet…and on my own I certainly couldn't…" She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, unwilling to recount her exact failings aloud.

On her own she couldn't even bear the night. She had two friends and without them it felt like every five steps she was going to fall apart again. It was Snivy and the others that kept her going. Despite all of their little difficulties…or perhaps because of them. Since they depended on her just like she depended on them, she was able to move forward.

She'd been trying to make a broad example, but somehow it took a big swerve into being way too personal. She didn't have enough practice talking with people. Or perhaps the whole reason for her shyness was a subconscious defense for her ineptitude.

"But it's the same for those two…without their Pokémon they wouldn't be able to brag about accomplishments that are not really theirs. They wouldn't be able to beat even a newly hatched Patrat on their own."

Cautiously, she peeked up past her hat at N's face. She thought he might look angry again, talking about those boys, but he'd returned to that unreadable bland expression…just stating what he considered to be facts.

Though, she wondered if perhaps he'd caught onto her insecurity (not difficult to do really) and was attempting to make her feel better. Albeit in a blunt, honest way.

"People are pretty useless without their Pokémon to hide behind."

She'd started to smile before it fell askew at these words, held up slightly by some amusement at just how blunt he could be. "You're pretty bad at cheering people up."

"I wasn't actually trying…"

"Well, there you go."

For a while the two shared a stare, almost testing each other. But when N didn't say anything in response, Touko's smile overcorrected itself into a little smirk. Somehow, it felt like a victory each time she made him stay silent.

Thus satisfied, Touko decided it was a good time to go to bed, and started making the battle plan and gathering things up for the night's routine. Snivy caught onto her actions quickly and immediately took claim upon her pillow.

Despite her grumblings, Touko never even once really cared about Snivy stealing her pillow. There was (almost) room for both of them. He glanced at her with one eye, despite already feigning sleep, and she smiled back at him, making the grass-type Pokémon put on more of a show about sleeping than would ever be necessary.

"It's not exactly like you're not right, though…" Touko conceded in the softest voice.

She didn't know if N actually heard her, but before he could decipher or once again question her words, she scurried off into the woods to change.

Half the time, Touko wasn't even quite sure she knew was she was thinking or saying these days. She half-expected the sky to turn green and the grass to turn blue when she woke up after everything else. But she knew that she was still young; a small crick in her neck was a small price to pay her gratitude. To a Pokémon it had become quite impossible to live without.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Waking up the next day, Touko found that she'd already figured out an N-adapted routine. It was as if she'd been plotting in her dreams.

"Oh no. N. I think the Pokémon might be hungry. We should probably find some berries. Oh, except I'm really bad at that and you seem to have the right knack for it…so you take care of it. Okey-dokey?"

She delivered the speech with the same over rehearsed stiffness Bianca had displayed in the school production of, _The Princess and the Politoed_. Except Touko hadn't even rehearsed; she was just a natural cardboard ham.

Considering the "okey-dokey," she didn't seem to hack it much as a writer either.

But it didn't matter, because N went along with it without question—though the "okey-dokey" gave him pause—and Touko made her break for some hidden place to change again.

Even better, in the daylight she found a small pond for a quick rinse. Nothing was quite so refreshing as cool water on your face after two days and two nights on the road. _And to think, kids complain about baths…lucky brats…_

Now she finally looked the part of a proper trainer, ready to challenge the Nacrene City gym. If everything went as planned, she'd get into the city that night and she'd be able to challenge the gym the next day. Of course, that was after she battled Cheren. Maybe a couple more days until the gym battle then. Cheren would likely already have his next badge by now and be more of a challenge.

Touko thought this over, plotting out her attacks, as she strolled back to the camp. Initially, she thought she'd arrived first, until she saw N waiting patiently by a fence, looking out across the wild grass. Most of her Pokémon were nearby him (with an obvious exception) and Touko couldn't help but think that the image suited him perfectly. The boy who could understand Pokémon, surrounded by them.

She smiled and walked over to join him. She was about to say something about moving along, until she realized he was even more surrounded than she'd thought.

Just beyond the fence, there was an entire herd of Blitzle grazing in the grass.

Touko gasped in amazement. She knew there were Blitzle on Route 3, but until now she hadn't caught sight of a single black or white stripe.

Blitzle was what Zebstrika—her absolute obsession ages 5-13—evolved from. Though now she realized Blitzle on their own were enough to amaze her. Especially in such large numbers…there had to be at least a dozen of them.

She leaned on the fence beside N, smiling as she watched the herd. For the moment, both seemed content to not say a single word. Though Touko wondered in the small part of her brain not devoted to Blitzle at the moment, if he'd even noticed she was there. He seemed the sort to get so invested in something that he'd forget the world around him.

"They're pretty quiet…" N spoke up first, acknowledging her presence for the first time. "Even though they know we're here they don't care at all…" He turned to her, trying to impart some sort of meaning in the look that Touko couldn't really read.

"Well…Blitzle are a lot less aggressive when they're in a herd like this," Touko responded without even having to think about it. It was as if a switch had flipped and suddenly she was an enthusiastic ten-year-old back from the library. "There are a couple of theories as to why. Blitzle are more confident in a team and so they don't worry about aggressors quite so much. One trainer versus ten Blitzle is quite different than one on one. The other idea is that they just love their herd so they don't want to leave."

"It's probably because they're happy where they are…they don't want to risk getting caught by a trainer…" N replied instantly and looked back at the Blitzle with a faint, satisfied smile.

"Right? I think so, too," Touko replied with a brighter smile of her own. "Because it's lonely to leave your family. I mean, I know Pokémon are different than people, but still…" Her smile faded, but didn't disappear, as she reflected, "It's why I couldn't become a breeder or something instead of a trainer…because watching the Pokémon leave would be too sad."

"So, it's really because you'll miss the Pokémon…"

She glanced up at N, whose tone was just vague enough to leave her room for any interpretation her mind could come up with. Her mind heard Cheren back in Striaton City.

"_You didn't say that. You said _they_ would be lonely."_

"Yeah…" Touko admitted with a rueful sigh and a sad smile. "It's that I'll miss them."

After that, neither said anything for a while. Touko wasn't even sure what she thought about as she stared out across the herd, but for once she wasn't particularly concerned with why N might be silent. After all, if she needed some quiet time…it wasn't that weird for others, too.

When the Blitzle herd began to move, she was brought back to reality…and her discomfort. After some brief fumbling, she continued her Blitzle lecture as if she never left off, "B-But with a herd this size, there should be a Zebstrika around somewhere…which is actually odd, since I thought they'd sort of dwindled out in the past ten years."

N raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned to her. "What do you mean? Was everyone coming to catch them? That's why there's none left…"

"N-not particularly," Touko replied, startled at the attention. She wasn't used to playing any sort of expert. "Kind of the opposite actually. Because the gym was closed for a while, strong trainers haven't come this way until it reopened this year. Only getting into occasional skirmishes with wild Pokémon from the area…they just don't get strong enough to evolve anymore."

N turned back to the Blitzle with a frown on his face. "That doesn't make sense. Are Blitzle different from other Pokémon and need to fight trainers? But there's no reason for that to be true…Pokémon shouldn't need people to get stronger…"

"Well, they often do. There's Pokémon like Boldore and Gurdurr that will only evolve when they're traded between people. On top of that there's Karrablast and Shelmet that need to be involved in a trade with each other to further evolve. I'm not really sure on the theories on that, Bianca could probably remember a few she's read, but…" She drifted off as she caught a glance at N's face; he looked completely dumbfounded.

"There's Pokémon that will only evolve because of trainers…and trading…?" he asked the question as slowly and deliberately as Touko had ever heard him speak.

"_You don't know this stuff?_" she asked in unmasked surprise. Her mouth was even hanging open a little.

Playing the part of a Blitzle expert was a little odd, but this other stuff about evolution was pretty common knowledge. Until then, she'd been feeling like she'd traded one know-it-all about Pokémon for another (one that got their information from the source rather than whatever magazine they picked up that day), though she'd at least been spared N giving her other friend's lectures on battling technique.

"I haven't met every Pokémon in Unova," N replied, looking a little put out by her surprise. It was like he knew he'd failed the expert test Touko apparently had running in her mind.

"Yeah, but it's in books and stuff…" Touko shrugged and regained her composure pretty quickly. "At least that's where I learn it. Books and some lessons here and there."

"You know a lot about Blitzle in particular, though…" And he glanced back at the slowly retreating Pokémon.

Touko followed her gaze and a small smile crossed her lips. "Oh. Well…you see, Zebstrika used to be my favorite Pokémon."

N frowned, though his eyes stayed on the herd. "You have a favorite …"

"Well, not anymore. It would be way too tough to choose now. But yeah…when I was little."

"I'm still not sure how you choose just one Pokémon above all else."

"Well, like starters, probably. It sort of just happens, like it chooses you," Touko replied to complete silence. _Isn't it like that for everyone…?_ It took a moment to remember, but at last, "Oh right! No starter either. Let's see…"

She smiled fondly at the memory she was about to impart. "For me, when I say it chose me…my dad used to tell me about a Zebstrika he just couldn't beat. You see, his starter was Rufflet, so he had an extra tough time against this Pokémon. So, to me, when I was little, the Pokémon that beat my dad—_Zebstrika_—had to be amazing…"

"Your father was a trainer?"

"Mmm…" Touko replied absently, looking back out at the herd of Blitzle again. They were moving in the opposite direction down the route, back toward Striaton City. It didn't seem likely she'd see them again. "I guess….that's why sometimes I wonder…" She frowned.

"Wonder what?"

This time, Touko really wished N would drop it like he did with most things. She glanced up at N, who was looking back at her with an almost innocent, childlike curiosity.

"N-never mind!" she replied abruptly, deciding to shut him down after all. She frowned sternly, though she wasn't quite sure why. She was sure it created an oddly serious dissonance as she attempted to get back to light-hearted subjects. "I used to actually pretend I was one. A Zebstrika, I mean. I don't suppose you ever did that?"

"Sometimes I suppose…I did want to be a Pokémon…I thought it would be better…"

Immediately, Touko's face fell in concern. Every so often he would say something like that, something that hinted to more, something darker. And Touko was beginning to realize that there had to be a bit of a story to N; he wasn't just this odd young man that started to exist when she met him in Accumula Town.

But she wasn't going to pry. No good would come from sniffing out secrets unless someone was ready to tell them. "Well, I hope you don't think that way so much anymore," she tried for lightness again.

"No…there's some thing only I can do for Pokémon because I'm not one of them…"

"Protect them like they protect you, right?" she said, referencing their conversation from the first night.

The herd was out of their sight now, but N was still watching where they'd been. Then, for a moment, he glanced in her direction and answered, "Something like that."

_More and more mysterious,_ Touko thought with a small frown. Even as she was getting to know him, it only opened up more questions. Maybe it was just part of the process outside of a small town.

It was too early in the morning for that kind of tension, Touko decided. So, she decided to switch the topic. An especially good idea since there was something that she'd sort of set aside in favor of the Blitzle herd.

"By the way, N…did you know there's a Pidove on your shoulder?"

"I'm not sure how I could be unaware of it…he's on my shoulder…"

"Yes…that would be weird…" Touko conceded, just glad that N knew this as well. With the way neither one had mentioned it, it was getting a little suspicious. She looked up at the conspicuous Pokémon. "He seems pretty comfortable. Where'd he come from?"

N looked at the Pidove as well, then back at Touko. "You don't recognize him?"

Touko shook her head.

"He's the Pidove from yesterday. The one you and Snivy almost made faint yesterday…"

She winced at the mention of the previous day and felt another stab of that unreasonable guilt. _He could have just left it at 'the one from yesterday' and I would have gotten the picture._ Really, the fact that Touko "Throw a Ball at the Problem's Head" White knew more about subtlety said a lot.

"Huh…so he is," she said simply, because it was easier than asking how she was supposed to recognize every Pokémon. She was sure his answer would somehow make her feel guilty again.

On the plus side, she was really starting to get the hang of talking to N.

To get to Nacrene City, she decided to put these new skills to use. She stepped back from the fence with a smile and seamlessly transitioned their conversation into one that naturally lead them back down the road.

This topic was originally about the Pokémon near Nacrene City: Cottonee, Lilligant, the various fighting types, Tympole. Pretty standard stuff. Until somehow, Touko managed to get the conversation over to sports. She might have mentioned the Pokéathalon once…for some reason. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure despite being present the entire time.

But the topic proved to be an interesting experiment. When they talked about the sports involving Pokémon, like the Pokéathalon, N seemed quite invested in the conversation. When the topic naturally lead to her mentioning her softball team, he didn't even try to feign interest.

It seemed N wasn't interested in her at all. Or perhaps it was better to say that if it wasn't about Pokémon, he didn't care.

Touko laughed good-naturedly upon this realization. "You know, don't take it personally, but you're a little weird N. Not in a bad way or anything, just…not like other trainers."

"You're weird too," N replied, though he didn't look particularly bothered, just like he was thinking about something. He looked that way a lot around her, Touko was starting to realize. She'd thought it was just the Patrat incident, but maybe not.

"I'll have you know that I am the perfect model of your average every day Trainer," Touko informed him with a little smirk. "I even have a challenge pose."

The remark about a "challenge pose" seemed to confuse N for a moment, so Touko happily stopped walking and demonstrated, after which N moved along as if it had never been brought up. "No, you're different."

"Well, I don't really see how," Touko replied huffily, crossing her arms over her chest. A playful comment had turned into another opportunity for N to be evasive. He was really a difficult person to wheedle information out of.

Of course, if he decided to say something, then there was no stopping him.

"With your Pokémon. I haven't seen anyone else like you in battle. How your Pokémon—your new Pokémon—didn't even hesitate. Snivy trusted you completely. Then, even if you can't hear him, you seem to understand sometimes…" N explained looking a bit conflicted over the matter.

Touko felt as if she lost her breath. Hearing that from N…she knew it wasn't empty praise. It was just a fact. She looked at the ground, suddenly shy as she answered, "Other trainers can be like that."

"No, they're not the same," N insisted, looking quite frustrated by this fact. Then he added, quite carelessly, "You're just strange all the time too."

Touko faltered in her walking for a moment, not sure if she should be offended, since it was N after all. She couldn't help it though; did he really have to go ahead and add on that last bit? Shouldn't that be her line anyway? It was that last fact that made her unable to just brush it off like usual.

She recovered quickly and asked in a falsely pleasant tone, "Oh? And how am I strange outside being a trainer?"

"You're not like other girls," N replied without looking at her and thus oblivious to the dangerous trap he was walking into. He was too busy puzzling out Touko's oddities at that moment.

"How many girls do you know?" Touko asked sharply this time. She hadn't figured on N being the type to make a lot of…friends and news to the contrary was irritating her somewhat. She'd formed a kind of socially awkward alliance with him in her mind.

"Two."

Touko's irritation dissipated immediately. "Two?"

N nodded, this time looking at her.

He had an entire list that counted as his first Pokémon. But apparently, somehow, he only knew two girls.

Didn't he ever go to school? Or did those old snooty Boy's schools still exist somewhere in Unova?

"Wait, does that include me?" Touko asked, figuring she should at least get the accurate number so she could portray the appropriate amount of disbelief.

"Well, no…I guess you're three, then."

Instead of disbelief, Touko just sighed. She'd been doing a lot of that the past couple of days, but clearly it was the only way to respond to this absurd conversation (honestly, the half of the conversation N had with Panpour she'd heard seemed more normal). She looked at N sideways, as if the new perspective would somehow make everything clear.

He only looked more confused at the odd action.

Touko smiled and righted herself. "I guess in that number, it can't be helped that I'm weird. Three is an odd number, after all."

Even N cracked a small smile at that and Touko almost stumbled in surprise. It was the first time N had shown any real amusement at something she'd said. So, she stored away the fact that math humor was acceptable to him. Or did it count more as a play on words, because that might be easier to do…

Suddenly, there was the familiar musical tone of her Xtransceiever ringing.

Touko looked at the device with a healthy amount of apprehension. Her calls were usually from her mother and she wasn't sure that was a force she wanted N to have to deal with.

But when she looked at it, she didn't see her "From Home" display on the screen. Instead, she answered to see her friend's worried face on the screen. "Bianca? Are you all right?"

"_Oh! Touko! I didn't know who else to call! Cheren's already in Nacrene, but I thought maybe you were still on Route 3, too…"_

"So you're traveling now? You beat the gym?" Touko asked in excitement. Perhaps it wouldn't be too long now until all three of them were reunited in Nacrene.

"_Oh yeah, I am…I mean I was…and the gym…"_ Bianca let out a deep breath and started over, _"Team Plasma stole a little girl's Pokémon!"_

Touko's smile fell right off her face and her eyes narrowed. "In Striaton?"

Bianca shook her head. _"Right after I went by the daycare—you might have seen it—they went running by and into the cave nearby. By the time I found out what happened and tried to go after them, they were already gone. Not that I could have done much anyway…the poor Lillipup…Anyway! The police showed up, but I don't know what they can do because of what they said before. Then I thought of you. Since you're further along, maybe they're heading your way and you'll see them. And since it's you, you could probably do something."_

"I promise I'll be on the lookout," Touko said in her most comforting voice, then hesitated before continuing, "But I'm already well past the half point. If it just happened, I'm not sure what exactly I can do…"

"_Oh…" _Bianca's disappointment was evident even across the miles and Touko's heart ached for her friend. It seemed like Bianca got something new to be stressed out over everyday.

"I promise I'll try to do what I can, though!" Touko rushed out, despite not having a single idea in that vein. "If I have to turn around—"

"_Oh no! Please don't do that! You've already had to do so much. If it weren't for the other incident, you'd already be in Nacrene City. I just thought, since it's you…you'd be the best person if it was easy for you…I thought it was a long shot…"_

Despite Bianca's words, she was clearly taking the situation hard, so Touko couldn't just leave it alone. "Well, I promise I'll try _something_ anyway."

Bianca's face beamed on the other side of the screen, making Touko certain that she'd really try. _"Thank you! Oh wait, they need to ask more questions. I'll see you in Nacrene. Bye—" _And the feed cut off without waiting for Touko's response.

She stared at the blank screen of her Xtransceiver for a while, trying to cope with the injustice of it. "Team Plasma stole some little girl's Pokémon," Touko stated, perhaps to inform N, but she didn't look at him. She lowered her arm, but still stared into the same empty space. "I don't know what they're thinking."

"They want to free Pokémon from irresponsible owners," N replied, far too trustingly for Touko to handle at the moment.

She scoffed. "Yeah, so they say, but after—" She had to stop; she'd decided not to tell him about that. She folded her arms over her chest and took a deep breath to calm down. "Whatever their deal is…I don't think you can just trust that stealing a little girl's Pokémon is the right answer."

"It was a little girl that just gave away your Panpour," N reminded her. "A child could be just as bad and a bad owner shouldn't have Pokémon."

"She wasn't _that_ little…" Touko protested weakly. Then her brow furrowed and she looked up at N. "Wait, how did you…"

N was staring back at her, blinking, and Touko sighed in defeat.

"Right, right. Panpour told you. I keep forgetting…" She put the matter aside; funny how even a guy being able to talk to Pokémon could become routine. But at this rate, she'd get derailed into another odd N conversation and the mission from Bianca was too important. So her enthusiasm had to retire for the moment.

All she had to do was figure out what exactly it was she needed to do. She folded her arms over her chest and went deep into thought.

_It sounds like this happened just today. So, if Team Plasma is heading this way, we're just not very likely to see them. Even if we headed back, they'll probably hide or have some other exit plan. They'd have to be stupid to go straight ahead to Nacrene City. Then again, it is Team Plasma…After all, the police already know, so they're really the best people. But I promised Bianca…there has to be something…Maybe there's something on the map, but it looked like it was pretty straightforward._

"Shouldn't we start walking again? We're almost there…"

She glanced up at N, who until then had been waiting quite patiently as she drifted through her unproductive plans. Now, however, he was looking a little anxious about something, making Touko frown. "How do you know that?"

"The Pokémon are getting quieter. They always do near the towns and cities…"

"Huh…you can't turn it off, I suppose…" Touko replied absently, and she was about to go back to her plan-making when she whipped her head around. "The Pokémon!"

"Yes…so if we kept walking we'd get to Nacrene City."

Then, a smile not at all associated with the proximity to their destination spread across Touko's face, causing N to frown. He'd already learned there were a few things to be wary about when it came to Touko. The Poké ball throw had probably seen to that.

"Hey, N. Let's take a detour…"

"You seemed like you were really in a rush to get to Nacrene City, I'm not sure why you'd want to stop now…"

Touko blinked in surprise—N really did notice things without her saying them outright sometimes—but shook it out of her head for the moment. "Some things are more important that gyms and challenges. Things like justice!"

"This is about Team Plasma stealing that girl's Pokémon…"

"Right."

"I don't really want to get involved." N looked off to the side and up, firmly away from Touko.

The now-ignored girl frowned and tried to step back into N's evasive view, but that was the infuriating thing about his height; it wasn't possible. Finally, she gave up with a huff. "Well, why not?"

N didn't respond. Touko knew right away she'd never be able to wait him out. So, she folded her arms over her chest and said in her most dangerous voice, "_N_…why not?"

It was startling to find how much she sounded like her mother in that moment.

Effective though, since she'd never known a person that could stand up to her mom and a sheltered boy like N wasn't going to be the exception.

"If she's a bad trainer, I don't want to help her…"

For a moment Touko was distracted by how pouty his tone sounded—if it made sense a tone could sound pouty while a person was clearly not pouting—and a brief fleeting thought occurred to her in regards to this which Touko buried firmly beneath her own sarcastic tone before it could take root, "You mean the five-year-old?"

"I said before, a bad trainer is still a bad trainer."

Touko pursed her lips. Luckily, she'd already figured out the solution to swaying N in all things the first night in the dark. "Well, then…we should meet that stolen Pokémon to find out what they want. Because after all, we should do what Pokémon want…"

N frowned at the reasonable argument, and Touko could see him searching his mind for some reason to refuse to do what a Pokémon wanted, but in the end he had no choice to relent.

"Fine."

With the shortest statement she'd probably ever hear from him.

"Excellent! Here's the plan…"

It really wasn't much of a plan. What they did was wander around until they met a Pokémon and then found out about all of the pathways people might not know about through the route. Collecting information that would be helpful to the proper authorities to apprehend the nefarious villains (as Touko termed them in a fit of childhood nostalgia for her old cartoons).

It was taking them to a lot of weird places though, which Touko began to regret as she found herself climbing up some higher and higher ledges. She couldn't laugh them off as easily since they'd cost her about 800 in supplies, which wasn't that much, except she was still a new trainer. Not to mention that climbing ledges was a lot harder than jumping off them. Even her Pokémon had declined the trip with one look at the height. Two of them sat on the ground, watching her and joining the lazy ranks with Purrloin in her mind. It was Panpour and Patrat; Snivy had given up on the quest entirely halfway through and _chose_ to go into his Poké ball, for the first time since the first 24 hours with Touko.

"You're pretty dedicated…" N noted from the safety of the flat ground twenty feet below, standing beside the Pokémon.

"I just want to make sure the pathway is there before I call the police," Touko called back down as she ascended the last ledge. Sure enough, there it was and satisfied with this, she clambered her way back down, only slightly more cautiously than she would have before yesterday's incident.

"You really don't like Team Plasma…" N continued unhelpfully as he looked up at the rocky ledges Touko had just traversed.

"It's not about Team Plasma, it's about justice," Touko insisted as she started fiddling with her Xtransceiver.

"Against Team Plasma," N insisted.

He wasn't going to let it go, so Touko shut her Xtransceiver back off with a sigh. "You're right…I just don't trust them." She could only come up with the vague reasoning without mentioning the Dreamyard incident.

Truthfully, they _had_ been on her bad side before then. She thought back to the very first encounter and her frown deepened. "And I _especially_ don't like that Ghetsis guy."

"You don't think what he says makes sense?" N asked, looking straight at Touko with his sharp green eyes. "People take Pokémon for granted. They rely on them for everything. Isn't it likely that it's too much? That people are taking advantage…"

Touko fidgeted a little under N's intense gaze. "Well, _maybe_," she conceded with a small frown, but came back quickly, "Still, I think if you explain just about anything the right way, you could make it seem like it makes sense. Like it's the truth, even if it isn't. I've known Cheren forever and I bet he could do something like that, talk someone into jumping off a bridge by 'laying out the logical benefits' or something."

N's serious gaze didn't even falter at the scenario, and instead started to frown. "Your friend is the weird one. Why would he want to do that?"

"No, I'm not really saying…it's just an example. Cheren wouldn't do that…probably."

"But you think Ghetsis would?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Touko let out yet another sigh; clearly there was some miscommunication going on. "What I'm saying is…I just plain don't trust the guy."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. He just gave me the creeps back in Accumula Town."

N said nothing further, but still looked like he didn't understand.

Touko huffed and folded her arms over her chest, stopping to really try and figure out a way to explain. Somehow, this felt important.

After traveling with N for a couple of days, there was one thing she could say about N: he was naïve. Especially about Plasma. She rather couldn't help but think that if someone from Plasma demanded his Pokémon, he would hand them right over.

She didn't want to see something like that happen, since from what she'd seen, N was a good trainer. Especially in the caring department.

"Alright, let's see then…" Touko began, turning to N with her new tactic. "Haven't you ever met someone that you just knew was no good? There was nothing specific, no particular reason, but despite whatever else you might see or know, you just know. The instant you see them, it's like an instinct."

"No…" N replied, almost coldly, "I always have a reason to know that a person is bad."

Touko's shoulders sagged. She thought maybe the instinct part would have helped, Pokémon have instincts and stuff. Maybe she should have included that more specifically, so she turned to him ready to try again—

"But…" N began, and Touko clammed up at the hopeful sign. He was looking unsure as he continued, "If you meet someone who you know is supposed to have done terrible things, but you like them anyway? Something like that?"

Touko blinked when he finished. It was surprisingly optimistic to be able to have that different perspective; she was beginning to wonder when exactly she'd become so cynical. However, N was looking at her patiently, waiting for a response, so she didn't have time to dwell on it.

"So…basically the same thing, except opposite? Yeah…I guess it can work that way too." She smiled a little and tilted her head. "Do you get it now?"

N was silent, frowning now as he appeared to be in deep thought once more.

"N?" Touko tried, without a response, so she waved her hand in front of his face to finally get his attention. "Do you understand?"

He looked at her for a moment, straight into her eyes so that the smile fell from her face and she felt like the one at a loss for words. She couldn't quite figure the look in his eyes, but his straightforward gaze made her breath catch in her throat.

"I think so," he said at last, not breaking the gaze.

Touko fidgeted uncomfortably, finally regaining her senses. "R-right. Good then…I'm just going to…" She coughed uncomfortably and returned to making her calls to Bianca and the police.

Both thanked her for the help (one with a lot more enthusiasm than the other) and the matter seemed as if it would be settled. Just maybe not that day. They'd keep her posted.

_How do I get involved in this stuff?_

She sighed, but was careful to put a smile on her face when she turned back to N, signaling she was done. To her surprise, he smiled back. She faltered in that moment, as N moved ahead without another word. He just expected her to follow, which she knew to do without a word.

But Touko stayed behind, wondering exactly how that had happened. Even when N wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, he still managed to confuse her. She had to actually shake her head clear over her silliness before she jogged to catch up. Somehow, she found herself walking alone beside N, each of her Pokémon choosing to rest in their balls after the long day.

The rest of their journey that day was pretty quiet without the Pokémon. Touko didn't seem to mind the lapses in conversation as much. She was doing a lot of thinking on her own. And every so often, when it was silent, she'd look at N from the corner of her eye and just wonder what he was thinking about.

One time she'd gotten so distracted in this endeavor that she tripped right over a rock she clearly should have seen. Perhaps a good thing about N's naivety—or perhaps innocence—was that he didn't seem to care in the slightest how uncool she looked. While she stood back up and dusted off her clothes and tried to regain her composure, N just waited for her patiently after making certain that she was all right.

It made the embarrassment fade a lot faster, Touko thought with a smile as she walked beside him down the road, feeling content once again.

It was an odd feeling, only disrupted when Touko allowed this thought to occur to her, crumpling her brow in confusion every so often. Though it was always replaced by a small smile again.

They didn't make it to Nacrene City that night, but she didn't really mind. And that was one thing she decided very clearly not to wonder too much about.

**XWXWXWXWX**

"_Did I ever tell you the story about the Pokémon that created the universe?"_

"_Dad, this isn't the time. Besides, I'm thirteen. Now, I'm really getting too old for fairytales."_

"_Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself. There's still two more weeks. Besides, they're not fairy tales. They're legends."_

"_They're not _real_."_

"_See, this is what happens when I let you hang out with your mother too much. Too much reality. That was always your mother's problem."_

"…_I'll tell her you said that."_

"_How did I get such a rude child?"_

"_I suppose that's Mom's fault, too?"_

"_See, now I'll tell you said that. How do you like that?"_

"_She won't believe you."_

"_That's true. Women always stick together. It's so lonely…just me and Brav…"_

"_Pretty lucky having a Pokémon at all though..."_

"_See! There you go, getting ahead of yourself. Quit growing up."_

"_Is that why you still try the fairy tales? Trying to keep me regressed in childhood."_

"Legends_. And quit trying words you don't know."_

"_Sure, fine. I just always thought the stories you actually told me when I was little were better. They didn't have to be made up or anything…"_

"_Like the ones about Zebstrika?"_

"_That's…"_

"_Ha! Are you blushing?"_

"_N-no!_ _Why would I—_Dad! Stop laughing!_"_

"_Sorry, sorry. Maybe you really are a teenager already. You have the stubbornness down. Zebstrika though, eh?"_

"_Is there a problem?"_

"_Nah…just reminds me of something your mother said…I guess I'll have to make the trip after all."_

"_Where are you going?"_

"_Two weeks before your birthday? You should know better than to get answers to all of your questions."_

"_Dad, you're supposed to drive me to school."_

"_You're old enough to walk."_

"_You were the one that asked me if you could."_

"_Alright. I'll pick you up instead, how about that?"_

"_Sure, fine. I'll see you later."_

"_No hug?"_

"_Sorry, I guess I'm just a stubborn teenager already. Deal with it."_

It was just a memory. Just one memory. There were a lot more.

Touko reminded herself of all of these things as she laid flat on her back, staring up at the night sky and trying to catch her breath. Until just a few moments ago, she'd been sleeping. She'd even gotten to sleep quite easily. Just like every other night since she'd left Striaton City.

_Why now? Why that?_

It wasn't even like a nightmare. Nothing like what happened in the Dreamyard. It wasn't even like any dream she had when she used to dream. It was just a memory.

Was it some sort of remaining side effect of the mist? Was this just what her dreams were going to be like from now on? Memories she wanted to forget forced in front of her?

It wasn't just another bad memory, either. She had a dozen more of her and her father talking the exact same way that she remembered fondly. They joked. It was how they talked.

But this…It was like her own subconscious was playing mind games with her, showing her something relatively harmless so it would hurt all the more when she remembered the context.

She put her hands over her face, willing herself not to let it bother her. She'd said stuff like that all the time. She was sure she'd even been smiling when she said it. Her father knew that, right?

The truth was that she had been mad at him, but she _was_ a stubborn almost-teenager and refused to let him see it. If she'd just asked him to drive her after all, he would have agreed and then nothing…

This is why it was awful. Her mother had been the same way after the accident, blaming herself for it. Touko knew it wasn't really her fault, just like her mother must have known, but it was there anyway.

She sighed and let her hands fall to her side. The panic had passed, but there was no point in trying to get back to sleep with that rock sitting in her stomach. She sat up. She used to go through this a lot after nightmares in the first few months. It was like you had to reboot your brain after it got overloaded.

First, she took a look around her surroundings. She was still on Route 3, still a fifteen-year-old trainer. There were her Pokémon. Lillipup, Patrat, and Panpour were all curled up in a line. Purrloin lay a little bit farther away. Snivy had left the pillow and was in the sleeping bag with her now. She reached out to touch his head and smiled at his mid-sleep fidgeting.

Everything was fine. As fine as they could be anyway.

Except, as Touko looked around the rest of the camp, she remembered that someone else was supposed to be there. She frowned and picked up her Xtransceiver like she had the first night, though this time the search was on purpose.

He wasn't very far, just difficult to see in the dark, sitting on a small hill away from the streetlights.

"N?"

He didn't look back at her, so Touko walked up the hill and shined her Xtransceiver's light right on him. He looked up at her with his usual expression. Touko could see that the Pidove from before was sitting on the ground beside him.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

Really, that should have been Touko's question, since at least she'd managed to be asleep at some point that night. It looked like N hadn't even tried, which was a little alarming considering the time display on Touko's Xtransceiver.

"I woke up," she gave the most honest answer she was willing to. "And you?"

"I was thinking. I don't sleep that much."

"Huh," Touko barely uttered, for lack of anything better. After a few moments of silence, she sat down beside him to no objection. The only sounds were the rustles of the wilderness and the faint cooing of Pidove. She fidgeted a little in discomfort.

"I'm not sure…probably in the morning…" N's voice came faintly.

"What?" Touko immediately turned to N in confusion. Then she caught sight of Pidove and figured it out pretty quickly. "Oh, Pidove said something, right?"

N nodded.

Feeling a little proud of herself, Touko grinned. "I'm getting better at that, being used to it and stuff."

"It's not much to get used to…" N replied with a frown, _not_ getting better at being used to Touko's excitement.

But now that it had started up again, it was a good distraction and Touko wasn't about to let it go. "I know I can get a little annoying with my questions, but if you don't mind can you answer one more thing for me?"

"It's fine…I don't think it would bother me…What do you want to ask?"

"Well, just…it might be a weird question to you, but I wanted to know how long you've been able to do it."

"I've always been able to hear Pokémon. It's not any different than talking to you." He stopped for a moment, picking at the grass. "Actually, it's easier."

"Hmm…" Touko hummed thoughtfully and leaned back. She decided not to ask about why it was easier, figuring from N's tone it was one of those private things.

Despite the silence again, Touko found herself feeling relaxed like she had been on the road. Even if there were no distractions, it was just better to have someone nearby after a nightmare. Relaxing, somehow, to know that she wasn't alone. It helped that N actually looked the most relaxed she'd seen him so far, currently petting Pidove. Though he started frowning in some confusion as he looked at the small Pokémon. Touko giggled, wondering just what Pidove might be saying to cause such an expression.

_I wonder…_

The thought had been drifting in her head the past couple of days. Perhaps longer, since she met N or even when she first walked onto Route 1. Now, after the dream, in the silence of the night, she let it slip out.

"I wonder…if being a trainer…" She frowned, it was a difficult thought to put into words and find the strength to say. "…If I could understand Pokémon like you…I wonder if I still would have wanted to be a trainer…"

N froze, hand resting atop of Pidove's head mid-pet. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Touko looked up at the sky. "I just love Pokémon. Being a trainer is mostly a way to be with them. I never got that excited about battles growing up."

"There are other ways…" N said suddenly, his voice sounding even more rushed. "To befriend Pokémon outside of battling, outside of owning them."

"Maybe, but it's what I have right now. A precious way to understand my Pokémon," Touko replied softly.

N didn't respond, so she chanced a glance at him, it looked like he was deep in thought. He looked disappointed somehow. It made him look vulnerable. And once again, Touko found the truth spilling right out of her lips, "But my dad, too. I wanted to be a trainer because I admired him."

"That's right…Your father was a trainer…"

"Not that unusual," Touko replied with an easy shrug, fighting off the anxiety of the current topic. "Except my dad didn't stop after his journey was complete. He became a professional."

"Your father…is he still a trainer?"

"Oh…" Touko said, already feeling the awkward atmosphere that answer the answer always inevitably created. She'd evaded it before, but now it was such a direct question. "…no…he died a while ago."

"I see…" N said, and to Touko's surprise, didn't follow up with the usual useless condolences or apologize for nothing. Instead, he was silently looking at the ground, his own expression unreadable.

It was the first time that someone let her drop it. That someone didn't say something just to fill the space, hand her a band-aid to use on a stab wound.

Touko looked at N, suddenly surprised when she looked in his eyes and found that she wanted to keep talking. Because of the opening he left her…without prying. Because it was her choice.

"He was my hero, really. He loved Pokémon and he shared a lot of that with me. It was so much fun. He used to talk with me for hours about all the Pokémon he'd seen in all of these different regions he traveled to…I wonder about that too, if me being a trainer is just because of him or if it's something I want or am actually good at…or…"

N's expression was so intent. For the first time he actually seemed to be listening to her, even though she wasn't talking specifically about Pokémon.

Touko didn't really know what to do with the attention as her words drifted off, so she did what she usually did when she was lost and looked up at the sky. A smile slowly formed on her face as she remembered just how that habit got started.

"Hey, N…how many stars do you think there are in the sky?"

"That's not really possible to answer, but there should be around 200 billion in the galaxy."

Touko let out a small laugh and looked at N with an amused smile. "Well, you're no fun."

N looked puzzled at the response. "It's not known, though…I can't answer any better."

"You're not supposed to have an answer," Touko explained with a quick shake of her head. She leaned back to look up at the sky again. "It was my dad's answer for how many Pokémon there are in the world. See, because there are Pokémon that we think come from space, there could be Pokémon for each star we see, thousands for each even. The possibilities are endless."

"Oh…" N looked up at the sky as well, frowning as if he was examining it. "I guess that makes sense. Even if it doesn't answer how many Pokémon there are in our world right now."

Touko looked at N again and sighed almost pityingly. She supposed she'd have to just accept the half-victory.

"I didn't think trainers spent that much time theorizing about Pokémon though, isn't that what professors do?" N asked, looking at Touko again.

"Sometimes, everyone's a philosopher. Especially when you have as much free time on the road as a trainer," Touko explained with a shrug. "Or at least that's what he said. My dad liked fantasies way too much to be an actual professor."

"So, he traveled around, catching Pokémon all of his life?"

Touko frowned, the questions were harmless but the answers were getting her back to some uncomfortable places. "He actually didn't catch that many. Just the six. And he retired when he was twenty-five, because…"

She pursed her lips. She didn't really have to explain. N hadn't asked. Even if he did, she could just say she didn't want to answer and he'd be fine with that.

And yet…she'd been talking about her dad all this time and the weight in her stomach hadn't gotten any worse. It was almost like the opposite…

"…He said he was missing out on a lot of things about being a dad, so he stopped when I was still little. Then, he entrusted all of his Pokémon to people he knew would take care of them. Bisharp, Darmanitan, Maractus, Boldore…My dad even had an Eevee. He never nicknamed him himself, so I started calling him Leavee because it combined Leafeon and Eevee so perfectly. I insisted that's how he should evolve, because of that. You know, preschool logic," Touko found herself rambling without pause, finishing with a little chuckle. Though she felt the tears stinging behind her eyes and had to stop what could easily turn into sobbing.

She sure where it was all coming from, but once she collected herself, she was taking another deep breath to continue.

"He didn't want to force his Pokémon to retire with him, since they loved battling. Even though it hurt to give them away…The only one he kept was Braviary. I told you, right? That Rufflet was his first Pokémon. So, it was too difficult. Instead, he got a job that specifically would allow him to travel by flying with Brav…" Her smile trembled a little at the memory. It had been so long since she'd seen Brav.

N had stayed silent, listening patiently to Touko's whole story, eyes fixed on her. Even though she herself wasn't all that sure what she was saying anymore.

"We didn't have a lot of Pokémon in the house and when he died, even Braviary went away…to an old friend in Mistralton City…So, I've really, _really_ wanted this journey. It's too lonely living without Pokémon," Touko finished off, looking at the ground. Then she frowned, because nothing ruined a mood quite like her mother and added, "Though I wonder what happened to all of Mom's Pokémon."

"Both of your parents were trainers?" N asked, this time frowning a bit at the revelation.

Out of everything she'd just spat out, that was what he focused on? Touko noted this with some disbelief.

Actually, she appreciated not having to dwell on everything she'd just let out. She realized now that's what she'd been doing. And now, as she eagerly moved on to the lighter, more present frustrations with her family, she didn't even feel like she was running away or looking for a distraction. She sort of just felt…all right. For the first time since she'd started the journey…

"Apparently it runs in the family," Touko explained with a roll of her eyes, happily playing the beleaguered daughter. "I only found out about it the day I left, though. Fifteen years and not a word!"

"…And that's not normal?" N asked hesitantly, unsure of whether he had guessed right.

"Not even a little." Touko sighed and smiled reluctantly. "She's always doing stuff like that."

"She's the one you were talking to back on Route 2."

That startled Touko. She'd forgotten entirely about that most recent encounter with her mother. She turned to N with some mild distress. "So, you saw that part too, huh?"

N nodded. "Is she always that…fast?"

Touko cracked a smile, both at the description of her mom and at who was saying it. "Sometimes I pray for that. She's harmless though."

"But she called you…Fluff Head…" N replied with a concerned frown.

This time, Touko snorted, surprising herself. She quickly had to cover her mouth to suppress a harmful case of giggles. Normally the odd nickname would just get an exasperated sigh from Touko, but it just sounded so absurd in N's rushed, serious tone.

Finally, she regained her composure and explained without a single giggle, "It's just my mom's weird idea of a nickname. She doesn't mean anything by it."

N nodded, despite clearly not understanding at all.

Glad that they ended up in an easier conversation, she asked N, "How about your parents?"

"I have a father."

Touko waited for further details on the subject, but with none forthcoming, she prompted, "And your mother?"

"I don't have a mother."

"Oh…" Touko said simply, and remembering how grateful she'd been for N's discretion when it came to her own news, decided to leave it at that. It could be that was how he knew exactly what she didn't want to hear.

The silence stretched for a while, but even now, despite the cause, she didn't find it too uncomfortable, despite the cause. She didn't have anything to say and if N didn't either that was fine.

It was strange to figure that out. Since she was young, her quiet nature had always made her the outcast. It was odd to suddenly think of silence as something that could be normal and not just the mark of any sort of problem with her. Sometimes, there was just nothing to say.

Sometimes there was.

"Thanks, N…"

"I don't understand…what did I do?" N asked, looking confused.

Touko just smiled at him. "It's all right if you don't know. I enjoy being the puzzle for a change."

This only seemed to baffle N more, but that was plenty all right with Touko too.

* * *

**On N:** Oh, he makes me so sad. Not because his backstory is sad (though yeah), but because he is _the most difficult character to write_. How do you go about having N participate in something resembling a normal everyday conversation?

In the game, N appears. He goes off on a tangent. He answers maybe one or two questions in a very tangent-like fashion (often these questions are posed by himself). Usually these are answered with a denial of some sort so he can stay in denial. Every so often, he asks a loaded question ("How could you" or something). He ends with a bold declaration. Toss in some ellipses and there you go.

I'm not hating on it, there's just nothing in there resembling a real conversation. So, it's hard. What does N talk about? How does he answer inane non-Pokemon related questions? I figured he's not very enthusiastic since his brain consists of 99% Pokemon and Team Plasma, the Player Character, and mathematics are already fighting in that remaining 1%. But I don't really know.

I can't even go on fanon here, since most of it has been, "Yeah, N sure is weird. He'll probably be super nice, adorable, and fluffy later though." Which doesn't help while I'm still in the middle of game plot.

Usually I go on about my interpretation for story-purposes in these little things, but it's hard when you have almost no idea. Could what I'm writing be entirely wrong for a lot of people? Easily! Luckily, I've gotten some positive feedback, so things should be easier going forward without my insane stress and doubts in this area.

**On the Original Scenes**: Honestly, part of why I fret about N's characterization, is because I have a hard time not doing the whole fluffy bunny thing because I can't have him doing his Team Plasma rambling and still have Touko agree to be around him. I feel like I had to do so much cheating to make these past two chapters…but these chapters were part of my original idea for writing a story. I wanted to develop an actual relationship pre-Nimbasa for Touko and N. Too often, I feel like Touko seems to be taking a stranger's "betrayal" too hard in fanfics. I mean, that's totally how I read into it when I play the game, because I'm a shipper fangirl, but it's not really the way people work.

So, I started brainstorming for fun how I'd do an adaptation. Specifically, I went for a shoujo bent, but it didn't change all that much really aside from ROMANCE EVERYWHERE. But I got into the trilogy stuff and doing just romancey stuff like most shoujo seemed boring, so I dithed the idea. But it all originated in just pairing up Touko and N as travel buddies for a short while because I wanted them to have a clear place to become friends. So, I guess you can _kind of_ call this an AU based on, "What if N and Touko became friends before Nimbasa City?" Even though not a whole lot changes based on that.

Really, I'll be honest and say if it was just about the trilogy storyline, I wouldn't even be writing this. I love plot, but I'm as much a fangirl as I am a writer. Gotta have more FerrisWheelShipping in there.


	9. A Trainer's Purpose

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

Updates Every 6-7 Days

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously: **Touko was still traveling down Route 3 with N, problems consistently popping up to impede her progress.

Edited 9/17 (changed opening, made various writing adjustments, fixed errors)

* * *

.

**Chapter Nine**

_A Trainer's Purpose_

.

"Nacrene City…just beyond the gate…"

The attendant didn't even bother to look up from her magazine when the doors swished open, indicating a trainer's arrival.

The trainer didn't even bother to step all the way inside. Touko stood at the center of the double doors, looking back out to route 3. She paid as little attention to the attendant as the woman had to her. Snivy, who actually walked fully inside, seemed the only one actually invested in the present. He stood in front of his trainer and watched her carefully. It must have been pretty boring, because the distracted trainer hadn't moved an inch.

Touko could still see the faint outline of a herd of Blitzle. It surprised her how close they were willing to venture to the city. It was a distant thought as she looked back at the path she'd tread with an increasingly deep frown.

Aside from these three—Touko, Snivy, and the attendant—the gate was completely empty.

That was precisely why Touko was so distracted at the moment.

After all of that time spent fretting over getting to Nacrene City, she was hesitating now at the final steps. The experience she was leaving behind in route 3, somehow she felt couldn't be matched by whatever would happen in Nacrene. The experience she couldn't quite let go because of how abruptly it had ended and the questions left behind.

_Why say that…what did he mean?_

The why regarding the departure had become secondary to the words before he left. Though the reason for leaving was puzzling as well and something she didn't even really think to question. Maybe that was why he showed her something so amazing that day, it was his way of saying goodbye.

It was secondary, but she did still wonder about it. Just a little, though. That was the odd thing. She wasn't all that curious, but a little disappointed.

It shouldn't have been a problem. Now that she was just outside of Nacrene City, she'd be with Cheren soon. In fact, he should be right on the other side of the gate, she'd called him up. There was certainly no danger of nightfall before then. There was nothing left to be scared or lonely over…

Touko let out a huff of hot hair. She'd just chalk it up to another one of the infuriatingly confusing things about her travel companion—_former_ travel companion.

Just the same, she couldn't help but notice that there'd been a lot less infuriating things the longer they'd spent together. Or that the most bothered she'd ever gotten was mildly exasperated. Infuriating was a bit…

But why did he go and say that before he left? She didn't think it was to be mean. She wasn't even sure it was supposed to be negative at all.

Just the same, she couldn't get it out of her head.

"I'm a good trainer," she muttered to herself. She glanced down at Snivy and received a nod of confirmation. Finally she managed a small smile before finally noticing his little frown. His little "I'm unhappy about this" frown. After a very quick burst of glee that she could even recognize such a thing, she noted that he shouldn't have such an expression anymore.

"You know, we probably won't see him again for a while. Unless we just happen to run into him in Nacrene City before we leave. I mean, sure, we've run into each other a couple of times in some odd places, but that just makes it more unlikely to happen…" As she spoke, her words slowed until she drifted off, face settling into a crooked frown.

There was that disappointment again. It felt like something was still unfinished. Though what that was exactly, she couldn't quite say.

Snivy was watching her far too closely and Touko quickly straightened herself up. "It's a shame, because we never got around to that rematch…Now, I really…" Then her face twitched. The rematch…

She stood up a bit straighter and put her hands on her hips, a wide smile on her face. "Of course, that's the problem. I haven't even done any battling the past few days." She turned back to Snivy. "Well, if we want that rematch, we'll just have to keep our eyes open. Speaking of…we shouldn't really keep Cheren waiting!"

With much more energy befitting the young trainer, Touko walked ahead through the gate, not noticing her own Pokémon's mild exasperation.

As promised, Cheren was waiting right on the other side of the gate for Touko when she stepped outside.

"I hope you're ready," she said, immediately pulling out a Poké Ball for battle when she saw him.

"You don't want to go to the Poké Center, first?" Cheren asked with a raised brow. "Also, hello by the way."

"My Pokémon haven't fought in more than two days. They're itching for a battle now."

"How did you manage that?"

"Ah. Well, it's a long story," Touko explained quickly, shuffling her feet for a moment. She shook her head—those problems were left out by the gate—and jumped back into her challenge pose. "So, are you ready?"

Cheren adjusted his glasses and sighed, resigned to Touko's sudden challenge. "I suppose if you are." Then he smirked, taking out his own Poké Ball. "Just don't say I didn't give you the chance."

He sent out Tepig while Touko sent out Panpour. She'd guessed his first Pokémon right. So far, it seemed he liked to lead with Tepig and this time was no exception. It was understandable in a new trainer if even that trainer from back on the route was doing it.

Or perhaps it was unfair to send Panpour out when Cheren clearly saw her walking with Snivy.

_His fault for assuming, _Touko reasoned and called for Panpour to use water gun.

It didn't take too long to win the first round. Panpour had excellent aim after all of the training with Snivy back before the Striaton gym. If he could hit the speedy grass-type a couple of times, he was in pretty good shape.

Then he sent out Purrloin, so Touko recalled Panpour and sent out Lillipup. Knowing her Lillipup, he'd fight with all his might against a Purrloin.

That was the first mistake. It quickly became apparent that Lillipup didn't get his usual burst of energy upon seeing Purrloin. Sure, he was still quick and anxious to fight, but it wasn't the same somehow.

When she ordered him to tackle, Cheren's Purrloin used a sand attack as he gracefully stepped out of the way, so unlike her own Purrloin's quick and somehow ferocious dodges. Touko ordered an attack again and again, but Lillipup always missed.

Cheren was doing the same thing she'd done to the trainer before. She realized this, but she was too caught up in the Pokémon's different behaviors. Cheren's graceful Purrloin made the memory of her own's battle look almost feral. Was that the difference Lillipup could sense?

Eventually, the Purrloin went in to attack, just like she had. It was so like her battle before, but she was still too late to stop it.

It was the first time one of Touko's Pokémon fainted.

The shock was greater than she imagined. She'd made other Pokémon faint; it shouldn't be that different just because they were hers.

But it was. _Because_ they were hers. They were her responsibility and her friends. She was their trainer and she'd let Lillipup down.

The moment passed, but something clicked inside Touko. She found herself moving again on the instinct that ran her after a challenge. She returned Lillipup to his ball and turned to Snivy in the same motion.

"Pay him back for Lillipup!" she declared, although she still smiled, smirked more like as she played into the fun of the fight, "Leaf tornado!"

As soon as Snivy jumped into the unofficial battleground, he let out the whirl of wind and leaves at the same time as Touko's words, throwing Cheren's Purrloin back and knocking him out instantly.

Snivy stood up tall and both he and Touko folded their arms in satisfaction.

"Well, this time I've prepared for this occasion," Cheren said pulling out his last Poké Ball. He sent out a Pidove.

Touko blinked. _A new Pokémon…well, of course_. She bit her lip nervously. She had only battled the one Pidove on Route 3, she didn't quite know what to expect. Of course, that battle had gone in her favor, so there shouldn't be too much to worry about.

"Alright, Snivy, vine whip this time," Touko commanded her Pokémon.

The attack hit, but the Pidove seemed to shake it off just fine. He then threw a gust of wind which knocked Snivy all the way back to Touko. She had to resist the urge to pick up her first Pokémon, it would forfeit the match.

But why? She'd been training Snivy longer than Cheren could have ever caught Pidove…

_Flying-type!_ Touko realized, feeling exceedingly stupid. _Grass is weak against flying!_

She hadn't been paying enough attention to her Pokémon's weaknesses. She, too, had fallen for the trap of depending too much on her starter.

Pidove was coming at Snivy for another attack again. "Dodge and tackle!" she ordered quickly.

They were caught by surprise, but Snivy was smart and regained his bearings quickly, following Touko's orders. He missed the worst of the attack and struck back quickly. However, if things played out at they were, Touko knew the battle wouldn't end in her favor.

Snivy stumbled and Touko gasped, immediately reaching into her pocket to call him back. She froze, hand wrapped around Snivy's Poké Ball, when she saw the look in his eyes. Snivy was determined. He wanted to win.

Of course, Snivy must have his own pride. If he lost, she could just bring out another Pokémon. But that would only protect her undefeated record, not his.

It was time to use a strategy to protect her Pokémon.

"Snivy! We have an undefeated record together! Let's do our best to protect it!" she shouted encouragingly from behind.

Snivy stood up a little straighter and gave a little nod without looking back at her.

"First, leaf tornado!"

Her grass-type Pokémon sent Pidove up in the air in a whirl of leaves. Of course, it didn't have much of an effect; Pidove just spread out its wings and glided on the wind.

"Vine whip—!"

A strong vine immediately went swinging at the airborne Pokémon.

"—and capture him like in the Dreamyard!"

Snivy caught on before Touko could finish the rest of her instructions. Once the vine had wrapped around the Pidove, he began pulling with all his strength left. But Pidove fought against its bonds, forcing Snivy to pull harder and harder.

It still wasn't enough. Pidove was pulling backwards and Snivy was slowly sliding on the ground. The vines began to break.

Then something happened.

Touko saw Snivy narrow his eyes in determination before he was obstructed from her view by a glow and light. She watched in wonder. Nothing like this had happened before, but she remembered seeing a similar scene once or twice in videos.

The great mystery of Pokémon…Evolution.

But so soon? Less than a month after she'd met him?

_Already…He won't be Snivy anymore…_

It was a silly thought. She knew. She read enough books. Most Pokémon didn't change drastically in demeanor afterward. All that should change was their appearance and strength.

And yet, she thought of Snivy making her pillow his own little bed and she couldn't keep the worry out of her voice. "S…Snivy…?"

It was as thought the light wavered for a moment. Then it burst entirely. In the same instant, Pidove was pulled down by one last yank and harshly hit the ground, knocking him out.

Touko didn't notice her victory right away. Her eyes were on the grass-type Pokémon standing at the center of the makeshift battleground.

Snivy was still Snivy.

"Sniv…you…"

He turned back at her. He was ducking his head, almost shyly, but his eyes were fixed on her. Snivy was looking at his trainer, as if for approval.

She immediately ran and took him up in her arms. Then she held him high above her head, laughing as she noted how light he seemed to feel after considering the alternative. She beamed up at him. "Good job, partner."

In return, he gave her one of his small smiles. She treasured it.

"I thought I might have at least been able to defeat your Snivy this time," Cheren commented as he walked over to the winning team.

"I didn't even remember about flying-type being stronger than grass…" Touko replied, frowning immediately at her mistake. She lowered Snivy back into a more comfortable carrying position. "It almost cost me the battle."

"The battle? Don't you have at least five Pokémon? Or even more if you changed your mind and caught more after all…" Cheren said, bringing up the Striaton incident with minimal discretion.

Touko felt a stab at the memory of their entirely stupid argument. "It's still five. Listen, I'm sorry about that…back in Striaton…"

"No, it's fine. I took it too far. I should know you better than that," Cheren replied, brushing it aside, even though he'd brought it up. "Clearly I need to learn some other things as well. I never expected your Snivy to start to evolve in the middle of battle like that. I'm not sure what happened, but it threw me off. I guess I need to expect things like that if I intend to beat you."

At that, Touko laughed a little uneasily. "Trust me, I don't think you do."

Now that her grip was getting weaker, Snivy was getting squirmy, so she set her still small companion down on the ground. Immediately, he sat down, giving the first indication of his battle-weariness. Touko looked at Cheren seriously. "But you did give me my first one-on-one loss. None of my Pokémon ever fainted before Lillipup today."

"It's still not a real win," Cheren muttered with a frown. "We have the same number of gym badges and yet you win each time…"

"Same? You didn't go to the gym in Nacrene yet?"

"I did actually. I lost."

"_What?_" Touko sharply turned on her friend, disbelief obvious on her face.

Cheren had lost his second Gym Battle? _Cheren._ Her friend that spent every day since they were twelve reading up on some new piece of information to use as a strategy in battle…

"The gym leader, Lenora, is really strong. I just fought her today before I got your call. Even after training all this time, it still wasn't enough." Cheren shrugged, playing it off that he wasn't too bothered, but Touko knew that couldn't the truth. Just considering how bothered she was about it…

"What happened? What was it like?" she asked, suddenly a lot more concerned over her own upcoming battle. Cheren had gotten so much stronger. If someone like him lost, Touko didn't think much of her odds right off the bat either.

And as a trainer she…

"I'll tell you on the way to the Poké Center," he said briskly and headed off before her, into the city. Touko followed behind quickly after calling Snivy back into his ball, where he gladly went for a change, happy to rest after the tough fight.

According to Cheren, Lenora used normal-type Pokémon. Touko couldn't see why this was such a problem until Cheren pointed out that normal Pokémon have almost no weaknesses. Certainly none to any Pokémon they'd encountered so far. On top of that, Lenora was a ridiculously good trainer with some just plain strong Pokémon.

"You really need to watch out for when her Pokémon use retaliate. That's where she got Tepig," Cheren finished explaining while they waited for their Pokémon to heal.

"I'm not going to be able to fight her yet," Touko said what she'd been thinking aloud. "I barely did any training on Route 3…"

"That's right, you said that before. It doesn't seem like you…"

"I just wanted to get here quickly," Touko replied hurriedly, a small frown starting, before it settled into the same puzzled one she'd worn until the gate at the reminder.

"You still need to stop every once in a while…"

"Well, I can't change that now," Touko replied irritably. She caught the frown on Cheren's face and quickly modified her approach. "It doesn't really change what we need to do. We have to focus on is training for now. How long until your rematch?"

"I have to wait a week before I can challenge again."

"Then that's how long both of us will train!" Touko was instantly full of energy and smiles again with the distraction of a plan. "We'll do better together than apart. Plus Bianca will be here within a couple of days, too. Then we'll be in great shape for practice battles and stuff."

"Well, I suppose that would be better…" Cheren murmured, looking thoughtful. "You have Patrat and both of you have Lillipup. Training against normal-type Pokémon can only be beneficial…"

"Just say, 'Ok. Let's do it,' Cheren. Oh! Also pump your fist in the air too. Like this!" Touko demonstrated.

Cheren looked at his friend with a thoroughly unamused frown. He did at least choose to acknowledge her when he answered, "Alright, we should do it. We'll train everyday until Monday."

"…Close enough."

Although anxious to get to training, Cheren pointed out that Touko had only just arrived and lead her upstairs to get settled into the boarding room. As they walked up the stairs in silence, Touko found herself without distraction, and a small frown slowly grew deeper on her face as she thought over their plans for training.

When they reached the room, Touko set her things down on the nearest bed, glad to have her bag's burden off her shoulders. She had enough to worry about she knew as she glanced over to Snivy who was already busy investigating underneath all the beds.

"What's messed up your face?" Cheren asked after her closed the door for a little privacy.

"What does that mean?" Touko turned on her friend.

"Downstairs I thought you looked pretty much like yourself. Now all of a sudden, you have that look like you're letting something meaningless bother you. Again."

"You just assume it's meaningless?"

"Relatively. After all, it's you. If you're letting it show it's probably not all that bad."

Touko looked at Cheren for a good, long while, trying to read more into the statement. Even after all this time she was never quite sure how to respond to his mildly insulting shows of concern.

"The battle had me worried," she finally muttered begrudgingly.

"The battle you just won?" Cheren clarified, raising his eyebrows.

"And the one before…"

"What one before?"

Touko ignored the question, despite standing by her ideals, that wasn't exactly her proudest moment. She wandered over to the windows. The blinds were drawn. She couldn't look out to try and find her answers in the sky.

"What's the problem, Touko?" Cheren had joined her and was watching her intently.

She immediately frowned again, keeping her eyes focused on the blinds. If she looked at Cheren and saw him concerned, she'd lose her composure. "You'll get mad at me."

"I won't…I'll try not to," Cheren amended, causing a brief smile to break Touko's gloom.

It still took a lot of courage, even just for her to look to Cheren and mumble, "It's Team Plasma…"

She saw Cheren's eyes narrow and his fists tighten, but he kept his word and tried not to let much else show. She could tell though and knew that the rest of it wouldn't make things much better.

"They get me thinking, not that I agree, just…whether or not fighting with my Pokémon is the right thing…"

Cheren's effort was admirable, if short-lived. "Pokémon like fighting, Touko. Don't let them fool—"

"I know. I just don't know if it's right for me." She'd managed a smile just at the relief of saying it out loud. When it was clear Cheren was going to let her continue, she had to take a deep, relaxing breath to find the strength. "In the Dreamyard, I let my Pokémon get hurt, not in battle, but by humans. I couldn't do enough. Then, I don't think my first gym battle went perfectly. I was relying way too much on the type advantage I got with Panpour. On route 3, I let my temper get away from me and I don't think I should have done that battle really. If it wasn't for…Purrloin almost got hurt really badly."

She glanced at Cheren, who already looked like he was itching to interrupt, but she figured she could at least get in the big one. "I stopped Snivy from evolving. I'm not sure that's what I was supposed to do. I don't really know what I'm doing."

"Are you done? If that was in chronological order, it sounds like you're done," Cheren began in a rushed tone. After receiving a nod from Touko, he immediately relaxed and said simply, "It's only been about three weeks. Calm down."

"That sounds like an excuse," Touko replied with a small pout.

"It's a reason. An explanation. I'm not saying not to keep those things in mind, but don't go straight for failure. Strive to get better." Cheren folded his arms. "Plus, you're still winning battles. If you're a failure, what does that make me?"

Touko stiffened. She hadn't actually considered what sort of effect her words might have on Cheren aside from him being mad at her, which was really more about her. Although Cheren was trying to be light about it, she could see his frustration from the stiffness of his expression. Cheren was so serious, she had to keep in mind that he really took things to heart.

"I'm…just tired," she excused herself, smiling weakly. Already, the wheels in her head were turning, looking for a way to really fix things. She brightened her smile up. "Let's go explore the city. You can show Snivy and me around. After all, being here almost a week kind of makes you the expert over me."

It was the wrong thing to say, she realized quickly when Cheren's expression darkened for a moment. It was a reminder of all the time he'd spend training that hadn't been enough to beat the gym leader.

But he agreed and afterward Touko stepped much more lightly and asked plenty of questions to keep her friend distracted.

_Once you figure out his mood, Cheren gets easier to figure out_, she thought with a satisfied little smile after Cheren enthusiastically gave her some inside information about the restaurant giving out specials on a certain day. If only she could say the same for everyone…

But she shook the thoughts out of her head and started excitedly asking Cheren what he knew about the local food.

Despite her best efforts, her enthusiasm eventually ran out. As they walked out of the third warehouse in a row that had been converted into an art studio, her feet were dragging. "Sure are a lot of artsy types around, huh…"

Cheren was still very well distracted by Touko' original plan and was all too happy to take Touko's observation as a request for information. "Well, as I showed you, the train tracks on the edge of town don't actually go anywhere anymore. They're all broken down now. So, the warehouses that were once used for storage and shipping on the trains have become a bit of a relic. Then a wave of artists found it to be the perfect place for inspiration. Supposedly the combination of old style architecture, industry, and nature caught their imagination. Nowadays, Nacrene City is the center of art in Unova."

"Mmm…" Touko replied absently. Halfway through the brief lesson, her gaze had been caught by a couple walking alongside a Petilil and Cottonee. It was already the seventh and fifth she'd seen of each respectively. "Lots of grass-type Pokémon, too."

"Pinwheel Forest is just on the other side of the city," Cheren explained helpfully, even more in his element when it came to talking about Pokémon. "If you'll notice, there are a lot of bug-types around as well. It makes for some very interesting battles in the city."

Touko did notice. As Cheren finished, she stopped as she noticed the first makings of a crowd. It didn't happen very often back home, but she could still recognize the excitement of a Pokémon battle anywhere.

The crowd was still sparse enough to see the two fighters. One was a girl with blue hair and the most impressive set of twintails Touko had ever seen. She was wearing a smirk and a Swadloon sat before her. On the opposite side was a boy looking quite at ease, despite the fact that it was a Cottonee standing before him.

Bug and grass-type against an unevolved grass-type. It was pretty easy to predict the outcome. Except that behind the boy stood another Pokémon. It was dauntingly large, even with its great wings folded. Mandibuzz, a dark and, more importantly, _flying_-type.

_Why would use Cottonee when you have a flying-type?_ Either the trainer in front of her was a complete novice (unlikely since he had a strong Pokémon like Mandibuzz) or he had some sort of plan. Judging by the easy smile on his face…well, he at least thought he knew what he was doing.

She racked her mind for information on Cottonee, trying to figure out just what was at play. When she glanced at Cheren, she saw a similar look of concentration on his face.

"You said you've been looking for one for two years," the girl commented across the paved street that made their battlefield. She had an accent Touko couldn't quite place, though it sounded familiar. "I can give you another chance. Are you positive you don't want to try another of your Pokémon? You can use anyone except Mandibuzz. I'm not quite _that_ generous. After all, I do a lot of traveling to find my treasures. I can't just give them away."

"I wouldn't want you to. It's meaningless if it isn't Cottonee, anyway," the other trainer replied with a shrug. "But thanks for the offer."

The girl sighed exaggeratedly. "Well, I did try." Then she shifted demeanor entirely, her face hardening. "Prepare yourself!"

The boy, as well, stopped smiling. And without a word of "go" from anyone else, they both called out their attacks at the same time.

"Bug bite!"

"Substitute!"

Swadloon went after Cottonee, slowly enough that Touko was sure Cottonee could dodge, but Cottonee didn't make a move. Then when Swadloon attacked Cottonee, it disintegrated into fluff floating in the wind.

_The wind…_ Touko looked up, seeing the true Cottonee floating just out of view of the Swadloon. It was an excellent use of a substitution. One that the opposing trainer only noticed when the boy called out his next attack,

"Poison powder!"

"Ah, crud! Swadloon…erm…use protect!"

The order wasn't in time. The toxic dust sprayed out by Cottonee fell upon Swadloon, poisoning the Pokémon.

After the shock was gone, the girl's face shifted into determination. "Bug bite, again!"

Cottonee could no longer stay aloft on the wind and was slowly drifting back to the ground. But even from there, Swadloon would attempt to attack and Cottonee would fall back, leading to the Pokémon going around in circles. And Swadloon was getting slower, tired under the effects of poison.

_Cottonee is faster than you'd think…_ The fact that Cottonee had gotten both the substitute and poison moves in first made all the difference. She couldn't tell how strong Cottonee might be from training, but there was a decent chance one bug bite would be enough to bring it down.

Except, when that finally did happen, Cottonee was still standing. Only barely, but Swadloon didn't look to be in very good shape.

"Alright, looks like this is enough. Solar beam, Cottonee!"

"That's—" the girl began, a frown forming on her face. A grass-type attack wouldn't be as effective. But _solar beam_ after all the time under the effects of poison…

As Cottonee charged up the attack, Swadloon went in for another bite. Just before the bug-type could land the blow that might knock out Cottonee, a bright beam burst forth, knocking Swadloon back and cleanly out.

It was something that was told to new trainers all the time. There was no such thing as a "strongest" Pokémon. She believed it, too. But she'd never seen something quite like this, a battle that looked to be overwhelmingly in one Pokémon's favor

If Swadloon didn't have such a high defense it would have been over much more quickly. If Swadloon was just a little bit faster or if Cottonee was just a little bit slower, it would also have been over quickly, but with a different outcome.

It was amazing how much difference the seemingly small things made.

The two trainers shook hands good-naturedly—the girl was actually laughing over something—and they went off to discuss whatever it was they were referencing before the battle. Seeing there would be no more show, the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only Cheren and Touko behind.

"It was an impressive battle. A good lesson in strategizing," Cheren commented, nodding his approval of the winner's techniques.

"It's a few good lessons…" Touko replied, a smile growing on her face.

Cheren raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out myself. Come on, I've got some reading to do." Touko immediately took off for the nearest store where she could pick up some of the magazines she remembered Cheren and Bianca always having their heads buried in. Perhaps along with a couple that she'd always favored…

She still had a lot to learn about Pokémon, but she had an edge in training. It was about time she utilized it.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Touko spent hours shifting through the magazines at stores. Cheren held out admirably, but eventually abandoned her when she went looking for a library to find a good stat encyclopedia. When she arrived, she learned it was because the big library in the city was located in the gym. She felt a little guilty, but it was buried somewhere underneath her excitement.

When she walked inside she was immediately challenged, but for the first time she had to politely decline. The next time she battled, she wanted to be at her best. Fortunately, she didn't have to venture too far and disappoint more trainers; she found exactly what she was looking for on the first shelf and it confirmed all the ideas that had been forming during her quest that day.

Now she had a plan and she put it into action the first thing the next morning, heading out with her team as soon as she woke up. She traveled to the edge of Pinwheel Forest, the perfect place for training according to Cheren.

It took some time to get everything all set. She'd instructed her Pokémon on what to do, but they weren't quite getting the point until Touko had to demonstrate herself. Then Snivy got it and the rest all demonstrated to Touko's approval. Purrloin did curl up by her feet after about five minutes, but Touko let it go as part of the reward for her victory on route 3. Until she found some of that promised milk, she felt she had no right to complain.

A half-hour after the routine began, Cheren showed up holding a couple of paper bags, Tepig trailing along behind him. "So, you get up a lot earlier now than you ever did back home."

"Sorry." Touko looked up from petting Purrloin, feeling a little guilty. "I just wanted to get started early and you were still asleep, so I didn't want to bother you. Besides, I'll have you know I got up plenty early on practice days back home. Which is what this is."

"Right…" Cheren spared a glance at Touko's running Pokémon, raising an eyebrow before setting that matter aside for the moment. "It's no problem. I would have been here sooner myself except I figured you had also forgotten to eat." He took out a bagel wrapped in paper from the bag.

Immediately, Touko's stomach remembered it was empty and growled loudly at the sight of food. With a blush and a sheepish smile, Touko took the meal, muttering her thanks.

"So, what are you doing anyway?" Cheren asked, gesturing to the odd layout of rocks that Touko's Pokémon were weaving around.

"Agility drills," Touko mumbled with a mouthful of bread. She swallowed quickly and continued excitedly, "Like what the team used to do back home to get better at baserunning and fielding."

"So…you decided to catch nine Pokémon, then? To create your own baseball team?" Cheren asked straight-faced.

"Funny." Touko gave him a sarcastic smile. "They may be the drills I learned back home, but agility is for more than just softball."

"Then what is this about?" This time Cheren looked more serious, he frowned when he looked at the layout again.

Touko quickly stepped back into his view, a smile playing at her lips. It was pretty rare that she got to explain a tactic to Cheren. "Well, that battle we saw yesterday got me thinking. Your Pokémon's strengths are really important; they can easily turn the tide. Even if logically, it should easily be your loss."

"Isn't that what you and Snivy did against Pidove?"

Touko's brow furrowed in confusion. It wasn't like Cheren to give credit where it wasn't deserved. Then she recognized the look in his eyes and she smiled back at him; he was poking at her, testing her. "_That_ had nothing to do with me. You know that. It was all Snivy. It's not exactly something we can count on either."

Cheren smiled back at her. Test passed, obviously. It was an easy question, like Cheren just wanted to reassure himself about his friends…or perhaps he was just looking for an excuse to dig at her if he caught her off-guard.

She shook her head with a smiling sigh, before returning to her explanation, "Part of that battle was based on experience with their Pokémon. I don't the girl had Swadloon for too long, because they evolve after getting really close to their trainers, and despite the loss I think she was a good one. The boy and his Cottonee though…Having that sort of knowledge and relationship with your Pokémon, I think is the most important thing. Snivy and I may still have a long way to go, but I'm starting to figure things out. His determination is what won the battle last time, but I'm not willing to count on that. What I can count on is the fact that Snivy is fast and he'll only get faster."

Touko frowned and suddenly plopped down on the ground. The next part was difficult to say, to explain her failing. "…The problem is that your Pidove was able to out dodge him."

"Flying-types have more advantage when it comes to dodging, because they don't have to stay on the ground," Cheren noted as he took a seat next to Touko, taking out his own food.

"I guess, but I don't like excuses…"

"That's good. Understanding your opponent's strengths is important too though. It's not always about what _your_ Pokémon can and can't do."

It took a bit of effort not to roll her eyes when she heard that know-it-all tone. "I get that. The thing is…if Snivy is going to stay Snivy, I'll have to take responsibility for it. I have to get smarter and we have to train differently. Because he won't keep getting stronger at the same rate anymore."

"I've been wondering about that…you acted like you regretted it afterward, so why did you stop him?"

"I didn't—" When she looked at Cheren, Touko realized she was going to do it again. Try and deny something she didn't want to be true. Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know."

"Snivy may not get stronger as quickly, but he will have an easier time learning new attacks. So, you'll probably want to strategize around that."

"Thanks." Touko smiled to herself. Cheren may have done it in his usual single-minded way, but she could tell he was trying to encourage her.

For a while, Cheren was silent. A frown was slowly forming on his face as he watched Touko's Pokémon. "You mentioned Snivy, but you're training all of them this way?"

"Well, speed is always important. Plus I figured maybe it'll make them closer to train together, too. I want a real team, you know."

"I guess it's not a bad idea. You never know when you might be facing multiple opponents. Especially with Team Plasma around."

"I don't really…" Touko started, distress apparent on her face until she got a good look at Cheren. This wasn't about her and what she'd said before at all. "Bianca talked to you too, didn't she?"

Cheren nodded silently.

"I'm not sure what to do." Touko looked to Cheren. "I don't want Team Plasma to get away with it…"

"It's not your responsibility."

"It has to be someone's…if I can do something, I want to do it. Aren't you the same?"

Cheren met Touko's pleading eyes before quickly looking away with a stubborn frown. "Well, they are bothersome. The sooner they're out of everyone's hair, the better. I just think you should just take it a little bit easier. They keep…well, it's better if you just forget about them."

Until then, Touko had forgotten that she hadn't discussed the incident at the Dreamyard with Cheren at all. What she did know was that Cheren had been worried enough about her to actually backtrack. Now she felt even more insensitive for bringing up Team Plasma so casually the day before. "Thanks…I'll keep it mind."

Cheren grunted in reply, an undignified action that was so unlike him Touko had to giggle. He spared a glance back at her, before clearing his throat and changing the topic again, "All of this, though. How did you come up with it?"

"I told you, we did it back home."

"People did it back home. Pokémon are a little bit different, you know."

"Not that different. That's why I had to drag you around to all of those store, to find those magazines. What I wanted to…wait a second, I'll show you." She leaned down to her bag and pulled out a magazine, an issue of _The Sports World_ she'd worked particularly hard to find. She opened it to the feature on the Pokéathalon events from Johto and handed it over to Cheren.

"See? If Pokémon can participate in sports just like people, you should be able to train them like people, right?" Touko asked eagerly after Cheren finished looking over the article. "Plus, battling itself isn't all that different from a sport when you think about it. It's a competition and it's physical. When it comes to softball, we do practice games, but it's not enough. If you don't hone your individual skills, practice just becomes a mess."

"You've thought a lot about it."

"Just a little," Touko answered with a little laugh. "So, what do you think?"

"Well. I guess it would work. For you."

Touko frowned at the tone carrying her friend's words. At first she thought he was just being blunt like usual or maybe making a quick dig at her. But she didn't hear Cheren's usual boundless pride anywhere.

Maybe the loss against Lenora hit him harder than she'd thought…

"I'm going to go train up by the rock," Cheren informed her briskly and handed the magazine back to her. "Come find me when you're ready to do some practice battles."

"Oh…okay…"

She watched Cheren leave with Tepig, a feeling of unease resting in her stomach. Snivy noticed her expression and stopped his training, coming up to her and resting a hand on her leg. She managed a smile and gave him a quick pat on the head, thanking him for his concern once again.

"You know, it's times like this…" She frowned, unsure what she wanted to say. It shouldn't matter, Snivy couldn't communicate back to her anyway, but he was looking for her to continue anyway. Her expression softened, finally letting a little sadness show. "I'd say it was easier back home, but that's a given. Change is hard."

Snivy looked confused. She wasn't sure if he understood her words, but even if he did, he probably didn't understand the reason. Not the Pokémon that had almost changed irrevocably the day before.

"I guess not for you." She smiled faintly and rested her hand atop of his head. "It's just me. But I promise I'll do my best."

Already, all of them were changing. She hadn't figured that out until the previous day. That was why Snivy suddenly being so strong, strong enough to evolve, had caught her off-guard. He was just the first one. If she was a good trainer all of her Pokémon would change. Her friends, Bianca and Cheren, were going to change as well.

Somehow, she had to catch up.

It shouldn't be too hard, she encouraged herself, with her training plans. Though there was a nagging feeling that training wouldn't be enough to put her mind at ease. Strong Pokémon alone didn't make a good trainer.

But she pushed the thoughts aside for the moment and continued on.

After lunch, she met up with Cheren and pursued more traditional training. But even with just the two of them, Touko still felt somewhat left out. In the late afternoon she decided to go back to the Poké Center for a break and had to leave on her own. Cheren insisted that he should keep training.

"_I can still get more out of my Pokémon."_

It was like he begrudged her for not doing more training. It wasn't even like she was slacking. Her Pokémon were tired, they needed a break. Plus, she was intending on writing a few notes on her progress, something Cheren should approve of; note-taking and analyzing and stuff.

_Maybe I should have told him that…_ she thought with a frown as she walked inside the boarding room. With Cheren off who knows where, she had the room to herself; she knew there were a couple other trainers staying there (oddly not the ones she'd seen battling the day before), but they didn't seem likely to come back until after dark.

She had time to think to herself. The one thing she really didn't want.

For the first time, when she heard the loud ringing of the Xtransceiver, she was actually relieved. Even more unusual was the smile on her face when she saw the call was from home.

"_How's Nacrene City?"_ her mother's smiling face asked before Touko even got the chance for a 'hello.'

"Fine. I haven't been to the gym yet."

"_Well, I would hope not, seeing as I haven't gotten a call from you."_

"Yeah, about that…you seem to be doing a lot of that on your own. I just talked to you the day before yesterday. What happened to our gym deal?"

"_That only applies to you. I can call whenever I want."_ Mrs. White's face softened away from her usual trickster smile. _"Besides are you really going to blame me for checking up on you?"_

"No, I guess not…" Touko flopped down on her bed, figuring she might as well relax for this phone call. It was swiftly becoming apparent she was heading into quite a discussion with her mother. "I can blame you for the things you said during the call, though."

"_I can blame you for hanging up on me then,"_ her mother replied, smiling easily once again.

"But Mom…Zebstrika…"

"_Oh? Is that why? Your father's old 'lightning in your veins' excuse? It didn't sound like that was on your mind at the time."_

"That's because you being embarrassing takes over everything."

"_How is your new friend by the way?"_

Touko shifted in her seat. "He's not my friend, just…"

"_Fine, your boyfr—"_

"Mom!" Touko felt her face heat up; she didn't want to hear that sort of grade school teasing from her _mother_. "Seriously…"

"_Sorry,"_ Mrs. White apologized with a very un-sorry sounding laugh._ "But it's pretty cold to say that you're not friends."_

"I've only known…you can't be friends in just a few days."

"_Sweetheart, if you expect to have known all of your friends for ten years, you're going to get very lonely as you grow up."_

"I didn't say it had to be ten years…"

"_My point is that there's no time requirement for friendship, especially for someone traveling. You're very lucky to have two good friends, luckier than a lot of people, but there's no point in ignoring others."_

"I'm…I'm not on this journey to make friends."

"_What are you doing then?"_

Touko frowned and looked down at her lap, but it was hard to be discrete about avoiding someone's eyes on a video. When her mother cleared her throat, she had to look up.

"_Even if you had something, it would make a weak excuse. There are so few good reasons to avoid people. What do you say?"_

"I have Cheren and Bianca," Touko replied stubbornly. "They're already more than enough trouble."

This time Mrs. White actually laughed out loud. _"Well, true. There are parts of a friendship that aren't that easy; the parts of yourself that you have to give back to them. I forget, sometimes. I just hope you're not giving too much…you're a lot like your father…"_

Every so often, her mother would get this look in her eyes, as if she was somewhere else away from Touko; perhaps to a time before Touko. She would look so serious, unlike the mother she knew so well. Touko saw that look in her mother's eyes now.

"Mom…"

"_Well, I guess I'm not in a position to lecture. It's so boring anyway." _ Her mother let out a deep sigh and sat up straight, an energetic nuisance yet again. _"Tell me about your plans so I can bother you on schedule again."_

They fell back into the routine Touko could handle after that, spending a good ten minutes with her mother trying to end the call, but constantly getting distracted. Despite her exasperated sighs, Touko felt a little disappointed when they actually made it to the goodbyes.

"_Don't forget…Take your time on your own, too, Fluff Head."_

The final words before her mother cut the call stayed with her for a long time. Not for the usual reason—_that nickname_—but her mother's advice; she said it as though she'd mentioned it before.

It distracted Touko the whole way through her notes until she eventually had to give up on that pursuit. It wasn't very like her anyway. At school, she'd had a seat by the window and spent most note-taking time staring out the window. Every so often, she'd get to see a Pokémon fly by. Usually Pidove, occasionally Woobat. Once it was Brav and Touko had actually squealed out in delight at the sighting. Her father had been gone for the longest time since he stopped being a trainer, she couldn't help it. She didn't even mind when she got sent into the hallway.

There were a lot of windows on the second floor of the Poké Center; Touko wondered why the blinds always seemed to be drawn. She turned around and opened up the blinds to the window closest to her. There were no Pokémon flying outside, but she could see the people walking around with their Pokémon; grass-types and bug-types mostly, almost all from the nearby forest. These were the people that were perfectly content to know and care for the Pokémon in their own backyards.

"It must be nice…" She put her hand on the glass; it was slightly cold in the evening air, the sign that summer was still waiting in the distance.

As she looked down at all of the smiling people with their Pokémon, Touko felt the first hints of loneliness return. No, not loneliness…but it was similar. It was still a feeling of emptiness.

All she wanted was a Pokémon of her own. Then she got Snivy. Then Lillipup, Patrat, Panpour, and Purrloin. She had five Pokémon that were getting stronger and she was getting to know better each day.

What could possibly still be missing?

Was it that fighting really wasn't enough? What about the fire she felt whenever she was in battle? Wasn't that the sign of something right?

She'd talked with Cheren about it, but she couldn't help the way she felt. She couldn't help the irksome words stuck in the back of her head.

_Why do I fight? Because it's fun? It is, but it doesn't seem like enough. It's…because I have to. Why?_

_It's what's expected._

That wasn't it either, but it certainly felt that way. Travel Unova, collect 8 badges, go try and be champion. Cheren certainly felt that was the right way to do things. She didn't really know what Bianca thought, but at least it looked like she was having fun. Because this is what trainers did.

Her father did it, her mother apparently had as well. Now she was on the same path. Because it was what her father had done.

"_You have lightning in your veins."_

It was something he used to tell her whenever she needed a pep talk. It made her sound like a born fighter, like the power was in her blood. But it was funny how she'd sort of forgotten about it until her mother had mentioned it just now. Even though she held so much of what her father had said and done so dearly…maybe it was because it never actually fit.

Touko wanted to be a trainer because of her father, but she wasn't him. She'd changed a lot. Maybe she was just trying to hold on. To her friends and her father's memory.

She was getting too worked up. She leaned forward, putting her forehead against the cool glass. It was calming, like there really was a heat in her that needed to be settled down.

"_Take your time on your own, too…"_

The words calmed her, despite still not knowing what her mother meant by them. It cleared her mind just enough.

She wasn't willing to give up battling. Not just yet. She didn't know why, but she knew that much. There was something…all she had to do was imagine the look her Pokémon wore in battle and she knew. Something was there; it was just out of reach.

And Touko felt restless, trying to reach for it.

Her mother said to take her time, but how could she do that when it felt like she couldn't keep still? That's why she didn't really understand.

Maybe that's all the lightning really was, the excitement sparking under her skin, looking for an outlet.

If only she could figure out where that was.

**XWXWXWXWX**

The greatest sense of relief Touko ever felt was when she got the call from Bianca saying she had just arrived in the city.

She and Cheren had been training together again by the forest and things were a little…_tense_.

Cheren would say that all he needed was to win next time, but the loss was clearly still bothering him. After a while, Touko learned that encouragement from her only made it worse. Anything she said was likely to be met with, "Easy for you to say" or something along those lines.

It felt a little bit like Cheren was angry at her for winning battles against him. What was she supposed to do, lose on purpose? If she was even willing to, she knew it would just make it worse.

With that uncertainty looming, Touko found herself unable to tell something to one of her friends for the first time. Already on the first day, Cheren made it clear that her problems weren't that big. She was good at fighting, she was still new, but she would become a good trainer. It was that simple.

She wished it was that simple, she often thought with a sigh. It was hard to find a solution when she didn't even know the actual problem.

But if there was one person who could create a solution without even knowing there was a problem. Instead of just saying a problem was small, Bianca had the ability to actually make them seem small. Touko didn't even realize how much she missed her friend until she greeted them with her sunshiny smile. It didn't solve anything, but it made her feel a lot better, and Touko immediately threw her arms around Bianca.

Both girls giggled for a few moments, Cheren rolled his eyes and said hello to Bianca in a much more restrained manner, and suddenly it was all back to normal. As they walked around the city after the Poké Center for Bianca's little sightseeing tour, they all joked around again like there were no problems at all. No Team Plasma, no loss at a gym, no…whatever was bothering Touko. It was just like being back in Nuvema Town.

Touko started to wonder if Cheren had a certain amount of snark he needed to get out each day. If Bianca wasn't there to give him opportunities, it would just build up and make him irritable.

Of course, all of this just served to underscore what Touko had thought all along: they should still be traveling together. (Honestly, how was she supposed to survive a _desert_ on her own?)

But for the time being, she'd try to just enjoy what they had.

All the questions could probably wait. She was starting to get a better idea about how to figure it out anyway…

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked suddenly as the three strolled down the street.

"Hmm?" Touko turned to face her friend's worried face.

"You keep looking around like you're looking for something."

"Oh…that's…" Touko stopped walking, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. Down on the ground, all three of the group's starters were now looking up at her. Snivy then chattered something to the others, causing them to make a small "oh" and give a nod. Touko frowned, wishing she knew just what that was about; it looked like they were sympathizing with Snivy, like he was having a tough time, because of _her_.

"She's been doing that since she got to Nacrene City. I've just learned to ignore it," Cheren informed Bianca in Touko's stead.

Oshawott was actually patting Snivy on the back, but she set it aside, turning to Cheren and something she could actually handle. "I have not—"

"Of course you have," Cheren replied without missing a beat. "You do it all the time."

Despite her weak protests, Touko knew that her friends were right (except whatever Snivy and the others were on about, she had some doubts there). It was just that most of the time, she wasn't even aware of it. But as soon as her mind started to wander to her problems, instead of looking up to the sky, she began searching the crowds.

If she met up with him again, she thought, maybe she'd get a better idea about things.

It was all his fault that she was on this train of thought anyway.

"I'm fine. Just distracted." Touko shrugged and returned to an easy smile. "We can talk about something else though. Maybe you can distract me away from the distractions."

Bianca giggled and nodded, ready to take up the challenge. Her face was screwed up in concentration as the three walked in silence down the road. Cheren and Touko exchanged a smile past their friend.

"Oh! I know!" Bianca said excitedly. "Did you see the Blitzle on Route 3, Touko?"

Touko came to an abrupt stop. "A-a couple of times…"

"Then did you catch one yet? You've always wanted a Zebstrika." Bianca's face was beaming.

"Not yet…"

"Eh? Why not?"

Touko gave a little shrug, then went silent as she began to walk again, hands in her pockets.

"Maybe she just doesn't feel up to taking care of one yet, Bianca," Cheren said so deliberately that Touko could easily read between the lines.

Bianca caught on too, because she just went, "Oh," before going silent as well and running to catch up.

After a while, Touko folded her arms and frowned, getting a little angry at herself.

Zebstrika hadn't just been her favorite Pokémon, it had been one her father talked about all the time. The story he told most often from his training had been about the only trainer he lost to more than once. A trainer that had an incredible Zebstrika. To young Touko, the Pokémon that could defeat her father was something amazing indeed.

How could she forfeit all of those good memories for the one bad?

"If I defeat Lenora," she said suddenly, "I'll catch a Blitzle."

"If?" Bianca repeated and added encouragingly, "Don't you mean when?"

Touko shook her head. "No…_if_."

_Because if I can't catch Blitzle, I'll never be able to move forward anyway…_

The declaration only served to heighten Touko's anxiety as the days until her challenge passed by. Things were still easier with everyone all together, she didn't worry nearly so much, but things would still lurk in her mind. Most worryingly was the fact that Snivy had taken to sleeping on the floor with the other Pokémon. Without his presence to reassure her, sometimes the worries kept her up at night.

But eventually the week passed without further incident and Monday arrived.

They decided that Cheren would challenge the gym first; Touko would wait until Tuesday morning. She wanted Cheren to get his badge first so at least if she won on her first try it wouldn't put more pressure on him.

However, she wasn't sure what they'd do if Cheren didn't win. To be honest, no matter how strong Lenora was, she was sure that someone like Cheren wouldn't lose to the same person twice…

Except Touko herself was the contradicting example.

In the end, her worries were pointless when Cheren came out of the gym with his Basic Badge. He still went on about how difficult it was though, getting Touko plenty nervous before Bianca thought to stop him. At least he felt sorry enough to agree to stay in Nacrene City through her battle the next day for encouragement.

Touko appreciated the sentiment, but she insisted that they stay behind when she went to her challenge. At some point she'd have to face a Gym on her own, might as well be sooner than later.

Despite her show of bravery, she still had to stand on the steps to the Gym/Museum for a while. All of her courage had fled on the way there and she was doing her best to build it back up. She'd decided to put all of her doubts aside, but of course they would come back at the worst possible times. Going alone, she should have known it would happen.

At least she had Snivy with her, but even a smile from him wasn't fully effective.

She wished she'd been able to settle her mind a little better beforehand. Now she was facing an obstacle she wasn't sure actually meant anything to her. Maybe she'd never figure things out. Not if she couldn't find him. It had been a week and she hadn't even seen him once. Even though, despite all of her talk to Snivy about a rematch, all she really just wanted to ask him one question.

Why?

Somehow, she doubted he even knew what he said was having an effect on her. So, maybe he already passed through Nacrene City without a single thought about her. That sounded like him. If she wanted to catch up with him for that rematch, or whatever else, she was just wasting time standing there.

Even putting that aside, she had to go forward. Blitzle and then Castelia City were waiting.

With a deep breath, Touko found her courage and finally reached for the handle of the door and pulled…

…Just as someone else pushed it open.

Touko stumbled back, startled by the sudden movement, but quickly righted herself. "Excuse me, I didn't…" She began in her quiet voice, until she looked up and found herself facing the person she'd been looking for all this time.

"N?"

* * *

**Author's Note on Timeline:** I am doing that thing that people shouldn't do again, poisoning the water by pointing out a problem in my writing. This is a common issue though, so I want people to know I am aware of it. I'm just ignoring it for lack of having a better solution.

If you add up all the passing of time I have stated and what I will state in the future, it probably won't be correct.

The problem stems from the fact that there really is no time passing in the games. Events just happen one after another. This gets a lot worse in Black and White because the routes are just so short. Two bridges? They can't possibly take more than half a day to pass. They're _bridges_. Camping on them would be silly.

I think if you add up what's happened so far in the story, I think something like two weeks have passed by. Which is why I prefer to say "less than a month." For the amount of stuff and development that is happening, it seems silly that Touko has only been away from home for two weeks. That's how long my vacation to Disney World when I was seven was (it was a fabulously long vacation, but still).

Speaking of Disney, they are an excellent example. It's like when you get older and you realize most of those films take place across 2-3 days. _Cinderella_? 2 days. _The Princess and the Frog_? 3 days. _Tangled_? 3 days. _The Little Mermaid_? 4 days. Families broken, lives changed, and true love found in less than a week. I prefer the _Beauty and the Beast_ way of doing things, which is to slowly stop referencing time directly and leave people puzzled as to whether it's been a week or a whole season. The action we actually see could all take place in about a week, but the development seems more meaningful if you imagine it's been stretched out farther, that it took more time.

That's where I am with this. I actually have a set amount of time I want to reference this story taking place across, so it's even more difficult and confusing. I'm just admitting that it's going to be flat out wrong. But Disney did it with their Best Picture Oscar-nominee, so whatever. I'm sure we can make it work.


	10. A Trainer's Conviction

**Pure White Dreams** / First of the _Dreams & Destiny _Trilogy

**Rating:** K+ for occasional minor language

**Disclaimer:** Despite using characters, story, and some dialogue from this lovely source material, I can only express my admiration, rather than any ownership.

**Previously: **Touko parted with N on uncertain terms and left hung up over something he said. After trying out a new style of training to prepare, Touko headed for the gym and met N on the stairs.

* * *

.

**Chapter Ten**

_A Trainer's Conviction  
_

.

There was something—some _things_—she wanted to ask N. She remembered that much, but at the moment, she was at a loss for what exactly they were. She still remembered exactly what he said, it was kind of ingrained by this point, but what she wanted to ask about what he said…She'd sort of just dismantled that track of thought so she could focus on the gym.

Plus, she'd been looking for him all week (she could admit to herself, albeit reluctantly) and to suddenly have him appear right after she stopped was a little disorienting in itself.

But now, here was N, right in front of her…

…Not really talking. He only looked at her for a moment, briefly surprised before his face clouded over and he turned his attention to Snivy.

The new reaction further pushed Touko's questions back. She tilted her head, glancing down at Snivy to see what might be interesting there. Her Pokémon folded his arms and met N with a glare. The time away had done nothing to calm his…heated feelings regarding N.

So that wasn't too interesting, a little disappointing perhaps, but…

As N and Snivy kept the stare, it felt like something passed through the air, something Touko wasn't privy to; an understanding and a disagreement. For the first time, Touko wondered if N might have a better idea about why Snivy disliked him than he'd indicated thus far.

"Why are you here?"

"Eh?" Touko looked up from Snivy back at N, startled by his sudden speech. Among the things that were bothering her, there was something specific about N just then that didn't seem very much…like him. She couldn't quite put it into words.

It wasn't until a small crease formed in between N's eyebrows—confusion over her silence, she realized thanks to her self-consciousness—that it occurred to her that something was missing. She could barely read N's expression after his initial surprise at seeing her. He'd asked a question, but he didn't look at all inquisitive like before.

"I…I'm here to challenge the gym," she answered hesitantly, despite it being the obvious answer. "Weren't…"

"I was looking at the museum just now," N cut her off, quickly answering her question before she even finished thinking it through. "I was thinking about the things people choose to display. What it says about this world they've created."

"That's…" Touko stopped, not really quite sure what _that_ was. "I never really thought about it. I'm not really that interested in museums."

"Right. You're not that sort of person…You are a 'trainer'…"

Touko pursed her lips. Maybe the time away had caused her to forget some of his bluntness; she'd spent more time away from him than she'd actually known him after all. Or maybe she was just reminded of the almost bitter way he spoke of trainers back on route 2; it seemed like ages ago now. She chanced a glance down at Snivy and seeing the familiar, dangerous look on his face, figured it was the latter.

Annoyance was a great memory booster and she remembered the only too easy questions she wanted to ask, "What did you mean by that? Back then." Albeit stated less than elegantly.

"By what?" Just a trace of confusion again. Somehow that was annoying her as well.

But the annoyance was distant, overwhelmed by the realization that it really _wasn't_ a big deal. Not even to the person who said it. N didn't even remember. No one thought anything about it…except for her.

Her shoulders slumped.

It was just…because it came from _him_. And at that time, too…

"_Aren't you coming?"_

_Touko looked back at N in confusion. They were almost there, there had only been one final delay that morning—a pretty wonderful delay, she had to admit. Nacrene City was in sight, and all that was left was less than twenty more minutes of walking._

_But N stayed there in the clearing as she started to move on._

_He looked back, at something down the path Touko couldn't see, something that probably wasn't even there. "I am not finished on route 3 yet. There are still things that need to be done before I go on to Nacrene…"_

"_But shouldn't you at least go to the Poké Center?" Touko asked with a little laugh. It seemed absurd, after all this time to stop now. "You can always come back to train or whatever else later. Your Pokémon's health…"_

"_My friends are fine. What I want to do will help them more than going to a Poké Center …"_

"_That's…" she started, unsure of what to really say. Silly? Stupid? Who was she to really judge what was best for his Pokémon? So for a long time she didn't say anything._

_Touko bit her lip and looked down at her shoes. Snivy was already nudging at her to start walking again. So, she did, but she walked back to N, much to her Pokémon's frustration._

_She looked up at N, a little concerned. "Are you sure?"_

_The question caused N to look puzzled, making Touko crack a small smile. _

"_I know what I have to do," he said almost stubbornly._

"_Yeah, but I really don't," Touko said with a quick laugh. Then she stepped back, still feeling a little uneasy. "Well, I guess…I'll see you later. Just…"_

_She frowned. It was new terrain she'd been forced onto suddenly. She didn't think of what would happen when they reached their destination. In fact, she never thought about having to say goodbye to anyone. Her father used to go on about all of the people he met on the road, but it wasn't a situation she ever expected to encounter, considering…well, she was Touko._

_Instead, she remembered all the shows she used to watch. This sort of thing was common there, saying goodbye to someone you just met (whom you would never end up meeting again, somehow to Touko's eternal frustration) and she decided to use it as the guide like she had for all her other trainer things. It had done her right by the posing, after all._

"_I guess, next time I see you, I'll be a better trainer. So, look forward to it!" she announced brightly, all while inwardly wincing at how unnatural it sounded._

"_I wonder about that…" N looked serious as he said it._

_Touko's fake smile to faltered for a moment. "About me being a better trainer or…"_

_He nodded before she finished, looking very thoughtful about the matter. "You mentioned it before…but I wonder if you were really meant to be a trainer…"_

It was a pretty awkward goodbye after that, putting Touko in a sullen mood until she reached Nacrene City. Periodically after as well.

"What you said before…Back then…you…" Touko started to explain, mind back in the present. She looked up at N's face, searching for some sort of recognition, but still there was nothing.

It made her even more self-conscious about the statement. Maybe it was all the self doubt that made her questionable as a trainer. In her current panic, she must have made a sorry picture. Even Snivy was looking at her with some dissatisfaction.

She put on a coward's smile and decided to bear it. Like a good trainer could do naturally in the situation. Like a good trainer, her mind shouldn't fall from her task either. "So, how was the gym? You must have just challenged and I'm sure you won. Cheren said it was really tough, so I'm a bit worried but in the end I'm sure…" Her voice cracked.

It must have been because she was rambling. She didn't admit it to herself, but there was a brief flash of fear at her failing that couldn't be covered up with a smile.

N didn't notice, or at least he gave no inclination, calming Touko considerably, almost enough to smile genuinely. He was wrapped up in something else going on in his mind; he looked back at the building he'd just left.

"The gym is just a gym," N answered cryptically. "I'm not really interested in that."

"Right…the museum and about what people display." Touko nodded like she understood. "I guess it could be interesting. I spent some time in the library already though and I thought that was pretty cool."

"I don't really like libraries."

At this point, Touko decided to give up on understanding. It's not like she had ever been good at that before with him. "Right…I wouldn't have guessed that though. You don't seem the type to dislike learning though." She had absolutely no evidence to back up her reasoning, but she figured that the know-it-all she'd classified N as must be attracted to _knowing_ things.

"That isn't what I object to, though I probably know more than what those books say anyway…"

Touko had to fight a little to keep her face impassive. Know-it-all classification was confirmed though.

"…It's the methods in which people use to obtain such things. I would enjoy reading about Pokémon if I could trust the information. But everything is filtered through a human's faulty perception."

"Of course. I guess to you, things like books aren't necessary. You can just find the answer yourself. _Most of the time_." Touko shot him a quick smile and enjoyed his frown at her comment. Feeling more relaxed now, she decided to play a little more. "So, I guess the hierarchy of knowledge is museums are good, gyms are just gyms, and libraries are untrustworthy. Right?"

"I didn't say museums are good…"

Touko laughed and rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

N ignored her interruption—Touko wasn't entirely sure he had a handle on sarcasm—and continued in an increasingly serious manner. "…It got me thinking…there is a skeleton of an ancient dragon Pokémon inside…"

As he spoke, he seemed distracted, as if he was thinking about something else entirely. He wasn't looking at her, but the gym instead.

"It's helped me remember things properly…" This time, as N paused, he looked at Touko, his expression unreadable. There was a change in his demeanor; he stood up a little straighter. "I…want to see things no one can see. The truths of Pokémon inside Poké Balls. The ideals of how trainers should be. And a future where Pokémon have become perfect…"

Touko was frozen in place as he spoke, unsure what to think of the change. There was no hint as to the real meaning of these words in his expression, but his eyes seemed so powerful. How exactly, she couldn't really explain, but she almost felt a tinge of fear. What she was hearing seemed like the usual unfathomable thing N might say. Pokémon and trainers and on and on. But it was different. He was different.

He'd mentioned it before, the idea that Pokémon needed to become perfect. Back in Accumula. Was that just his weird way of saying he wanted to train his Pokémon to be better?

"Do you feel the same?" He was looking at her quite intently, waiting for her answer.

"I-I guess…" Touko stammered out, though she was still confused. How was she supposed to answer when she didn't even really understand? "N, what…" but she didn't even really know what it was she wanted to ask.

"I think my fiends and I should test you to see if you can see this future, too." N pulled out a Poké Ball.

Touko looked at him in confusion at the abrupt challenge. But of course, wasn't this what she wanted anyway? She glanced up at the gym. It was still morning, so there'd be time later after she healed her Pokémon. And after all, she had told N before that she wanted to battle him again.

If only he didn't seem to be acting so oddly, she'd go forward without hesitation. Was this just how he got before battles?

Despite her unease, Touko nodded and motioned to Snivy, who was eager—perhaps a bit too much—and jumped right into battle for the second time against the Pidove met on route 3.

Despite the type disadvantage, Snivy won again. The entire fight seemed to pass like a blur. She went through it as if on auto-pilot. Snivy was injured after fighting Pidove so she sent out Panpour to fight Timburr. Then Lillipup took Panpour's place halfway through battle with Tympole, Touko unwilling to see another of her Pokémon faint so soon.

But rather than watch the battle, she'd watched N. At first his expression was calm, but then he would look more and more pained at each hit, more distressed after each loss.

The end of the battle finally made her take notice of something. After Tympole fainted, N didn't send out any more Pokémon. He only used three Pokémon, none of which were Purrloin.

She hadn't seen Purrloin at all on route 3, even though Pidove had never once gone into a Poké Ball…Why…?

"I cannot see the future yet…" N murmured, bringing Touko fully back to reality. "The world is still to be determined…"

Touko faced him. Until now, she'd kept quiet, wanting to let N have his secrets like everyone should. But this new side of him was…disquieting. Suddenly, it felt like a duty to find out what was going on, because something was _wrong_. She just wasn't sure how to ask. N wasn't the type to just abandon his Pokémon and she didn't want to imply it.

She didn't even know what to make of that _stuff _about the future and the world, concepts far beyond her own worries about just making it to the next town.

"Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokémon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world," he continued speaking at his quick pace, making it even harder for Touko to figure things out. "So I need power… Power enough to make anyone agree with me."

He spoke with a conviction Touko hadn't seen yet. A conviction that almost frightened her.

"_Stop it_…" Touko voiced in a harsh whisper, but in the quiet air it sounded much louder. As her command floated in the air, she found herself as surprised as N at her words. She briefly glanced at him, feeling weak and foolish again. Now that she had his attention, she wasn't sure what to do with it.

N stayed silent, looking at Touko for the longest time. When he did speak again, it wasn't as forceful, "Not now, but I could do it. I know what power I need…Reshiram, the legendary Pokémon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region."

Touko looked up at this outlandish declaration, meeting his eyes. They'd softened somewhat at her request, but she could see that determination lurking behind. As well as anger, she put a name to the ferocity that had frightened her.

Then he seemed to hesitate for just a moment before he finished, "It's my turn to become that hero—and you and I will be friends!"

He turned and immediately walked away without another word.

Touko watched him go. Legendary Pokémon and heroes? It was the kind of stories she grew out of by the time she was ten. It just didn't make sense. Not to Touko from the small Nuvema Town.

Perhaps that was why she had such trouble understanding him sometimes. She was small town through and through while he…was certainly something else. He clearly thought big; the world, the future, legendary Pokémon. But that was just a piece, what sort of person was he really?

The N she'd just met was different than the N she'd known so far. Back on Route 3, he frowned a lot, he'd lapse into silence at least occasionally, and it seemed like he was almost always looking at her in some confusion. Now, he stood tall, he looked straight ahead, he even smiled. Though his smile wasn't like what she'd seen once or twice…it was different, somehow.

_Somehow…_ Touko let her gaze fall to Snivy standing off to the side, sulking over his wound. He sensed her stare and turned back to face her with fierce eyes. She took in a sharp breath, but then quickly shook her head. She called her injured Pokémon back into his Poké Ball to rest. As she looked down at his containment, she sighed. They were being silly, both her and Snivy.

There was just one thing she could figure out quite easily as she stood alone on the steps of the gym.

Whatever uncertainties N once had, they were gone now.

_Uncertainties…_She clenched her hands into fists. Of course, everyone had them at some point. N had some before…but she still…

Touko finally noticed that N had left her view and without another thought, she ran after him. There was a question she needed answered.

Minutes later, she caught sight of him still walking at a slower pace and shouted down the road, "N!"

It was a little louder than necessary, but as the road was empty she didn't care for a change. Since N turned around, looking back at her in some surprise, it certainly did the job.

Touko slowed, a smile coming on her face before she stopped a few feet away. She had to lean over, hands on her knees, to catch her breath. She'd run a lot harder than she needed to, but she didn't want to lose him. She didn't want the chance to lose her resolve either.

As soon as she could talk, even before she stood up straight, she blurted out her question, "Why did you say you wondered if I really should be a trainer?"

Clearly, the question hadn't been what N might have expected in the already unexpected situation. "What?"

In other circumstances, the short response might have made her feel accomplished, but now she could only sigh with what little breath she could muster. She stood up straight, not bothering to hide the concern in her face this time. "When you stayed behind on route 3, before I left…you said that maybe I shouldn't be a trainer. Why did you say that? Why am I not a good trainer?"

Now N looked quite surprised and actually at a loss for words for a moment. He got over the brief affliction to articulate quite clearly, and almost urgently, "I didn't say that."

Touko felt her shoulders slumped and looked at him in disbelief. She quickly righted herself and spoke in loud indignation, using a lot more of her hands than she usually did when speaking, "What are you talking about? I was there. You said you wondered if I should be a trainer. _Should_. Like I'm not…"

N's face was passive now, just waiting for his chance to speak. So Touko broke off defeated, hands falling uselessly to the side.

"I didn't say that you are a bad trainer. Trainers, however, have problems which you…" He hesitated, leaving Touko to looking up at him, her fear and confusion all written plainly on her face. He finished calmly, "I wonder if something else might suit you."

Her face relaxed slowly into a small relieved smile, although she still stared at N, who looked so sure even in the small explanation of his thoughts. _His passing thoughts,_ she thought with a little embarrassment. It was the honest, straightforward look in his eyes though that reassured her. He didn't think she was a bad trainer.

A laugh escaped her for just a moment, silenced when she saw N look over his shoulder.

There was somewhere he needed to be. Somewhere that had to do with legends or whatever else existed in his world?

She wondered the possibility only briefly. Whatever that was, it was out of her league of dreams. Right then, Snivy was still her pinnacle, something she was satisfied with. The missing piece, whatever it was, was at least partially filled, knowing that her career as a trainer wasn't a closed door. Not yet.

And as a trainer, there was something she did want to address.

"N," she spoke firmly to get his attention. She kept his attention with a serious gaze. "Where is your Purrloin?"

"The Purrloin you fought in Accumula Town?" he clarified to Touko's terse nod. "He is on route 2."

"_Why_?"

"Route 2 was his home."

Touko just nodded, almost understanding, but not liking it at all. For N, who didn't understand starter Pokémon, parts of what he said weren't surprising. Even so, to Touko, who grew up wanting Pokémon, it was worrying.

But that's as far as she was willing to go; to _pry_. At this point, she didn't know what more to ask or what to do about such a thing. She didn't understand quite enough…about what kind of trainer N was.

Luckily, she was a trainer and for once that meant she knew what to do, going by the guidebook of television.

"N, are you going to Castelia City next?"

He nodded.

Touko smiled. "I'll be in Castelia City, too. Maybe not today, but soon…"

N looked over his shoulder again, still distracted by whatever waited ahead. But Touko was undeterred.

Taking up her classic challenge pose, Touko put her hands on her hips and wore a confident smile. "I want to battle you again." That caught N's attention. She held up three fingers. "In three days in Castelia City. We can meet at the center pier around noon."

N's eyebrows had furrowed in confusion, the corners of his mouth tugged down. In that moment, Touko decided she liked the uncertain N better. People shouldn't know everything.

"Why? We just battled…It isn't necessary to—"

"If still you don't get it, then that's why," Touko replied with a small shrug. Then, seeing his still-present confusion, she explained, "I want to improve as a trainer and I enjoy battling you. Plus, I want to understand…"

It wasn't a full explanation nor one that made a whole lot of sense, but it was the best she could put into words. You couldn't explain the thing you didn't really know yourself.

N didn't say anything, looking at Touko in a subdued sort of surprise. It was long enough for Touko to feel that creeping anxiety. Long enough that Touko decided she wasn't going to have any of that creeping back, thank you very much.

She scrunched up her face in determination and gave herself a quick slap on the cheeks with both hands. At this action, N's surprise looked decidedly less subdued.

Touko took a step forward, wanting to meet N's eyes properly as she looked up at him with her determined frown. "So, what do you think?"

Again, the hesitation, but at least Touko had gotten some kind of reaction, though "stunned" wasn't a whole lot to work with.

"Alright…" he said it hesitantly, but it was enough.

Touko stepped back, a smile settling back on her face. "Then I'll see you in three days. At noon, okay?" N nodded, but given his odd hesitance over the whole thing, she wanted to be certain, "Now…Where was it again?"

"The middle pier in Castelia City. It's actually called Prime Pier."

"Good, it's all set. So, I'll see you then…" Touko took a step back, to turn back to her own quest and leave N to his. There was just…one last thing to give her pause. She felt her face heat up a bit as she looked over her shoulder.

N was already walking away, taking his cue from her; even though he didn't say goodbye back. It was surprising to meet someone even worse about that kind of thing than Touko.

She opened her mouth to call him back, but as he turned the corner, she decided to let it go. She wasn't even quite sure what she wanted to say.

Actually, that was a lie. She just wasn't sure how to say it.

The biggest problem was a little voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like her mother. She could almost see the sly little smile Mrs. White got whenever she thought she discovered an embarrassing tidbit about her daughter.

As she stood alone on the street, Touko pouted—_frowned_—and let herself at least admit to the strangeness of it. She was a little too concerned about N for just another trainer. Although she was sure that no one who met N would say he was just another trainer. It sounded absurd the very first time she'd met him when he introduced himself.

It was just that the thing with Purrloin had her really worried. She knew logically, every trainer was different and N could talk to Pokémon, so he probably knew what he was doing. It was bad to judge other people's beliefs without reason. Something Touko's first-generation Unova-born mother had taught her well.

Touko let out a sigh as she leaned against the wall of a converted warehouse. _See, I knew I didn't need this…_

All her life, Touko only had two friends. Two friends and her family. It wasn't _just _because she was shy, they were really enough for her. She would bet everything in her bag that she was happier with just Bianca and Cheren than the girls that talked about their gigantic lists of Xtransceiver contacts.

But now she was realizing just how small and sheltered her world had been as a result.

Her small pool of experiences put her at a loss when it came to a lot of things. The stuff about legends certainly (though guiltily she realized that was some knowledge she had the chance to learn through her father), but even just saying, "I'm worried," seemed out of her reach.

Despite what she said to her mother, she knew what she wanted to say the most to N was that she thought they were friends already. It was the one thing she understood. But somehow she couldn't manage it.

It was kind of silly for neither of them to know it after their time together on route 3. Well, maybe N wouldn't recognize it, she didn't know if he had friends, but Touko knew that sort of natural consideration quite well.

The goodbye had been what screwed her mind all up (along with good dose or her own stubbornness), but now Touko smiled at the brief memories.

**XWXWXWXWX**

"_So, you think Patrat wants to learn how to surf because he saw a ripped up comic page—or a 'paper with lots of pictures'—that featured another Pokémon—who you say sounds like Pikachu from the description, and is in fact electric-type—doing the same thing. With a surf board."_

"_You don't believe it, but Patrat said as much."_

"_No, I get that and I do believe. I'm just still getting used to having stuff like that told to me so seriously." Touko smiled at a memory. "It actually sounds exactly like something that would be in a comic. Especially one from around Kanto."_

"_Is it significant that it would be from Kanto? Aside from featuring an electric Pokémon from the region, rather than Blitzle or—"_

"_Ah!"_

"_Sorry, I know it is improbable for Blitzle to surf…"_

"_No, it's not that," Touko replied with a sheepish smile and gestured to her Xtransceiver. "It's just…my…I have a call from my…" She frowned._

_Somehow really felt it would be better not answer a call from her mom while N was around. She didn't mind her friends hearing her mom say embarrassing things so much, they were used to it. But N could think even the most normal things were weird, who knows what sort of impact the infamous Mrs. White might leave…_

"_It's my mom. I'll be right back," Touko said before rushing off to a safe distance to answer the call; almost entirely out of sight from N._

"_Hello?"_

"Touko, that took far too long. I'll start thinking you're hiding things from me."

_She frowned down at the screen. Of course her mother, full of secrets, would automatically assume the same of her. "I'm not," she answered almost honestly. _I'm hiding you from other people._ "What's up?"_

"I haven't talked to my daughter since she was in the hospital, so naturally I thought I'd check in."

"_Well, I'm fine, of course. I'm on Route 3 now and I should be in Nacrene City soon…if you let me go."_

"Oh, that's lovely. I haven't been to Nacrene in so long. You have to go see the museum. I mean you literally have to. It's the gym as well."

"_The gym? So first it's a restaurant, then—"_

"_Touko," N's voice came unexpectedly._

_Touko stiffened. She'd been so easily thwarted in her attempts to avoid embarrassment. She could already see her mother's inquisitive face slowly developing a smirk. With a resigned sigh, she turned away from the screen and looked at N behind her. "Yeah?"_

_It seemed he had rushed over to her quickly; he was actually breathing a little harder. For a moment, Touko kind of wished she'd seen that, because she didn't imagine N to be the athletic sort with all that math and stuff. He pointed over to the tall grass across the road as he said, "There's another herd. This one has a Zebstrika."_

_At that, Touko's entire demeanor changed. Her eyes widened and she stood up straighter, her breath caught in her chest._

_Zebstrika…He went looking for her because he saw…and _knew_…_

_Touko's face flushed and she averted her eyes. "Th-thanks, I'll go see in a second. I'm just going to say goodbye to my mom."_

_He nodded and ran back._

_Meanwhile, there was a delighted laugh from the Xtransceiver._

"Oho! Where did you meet a boy?"

"_Mom…please don't…"_

"Well, I can't help it. A new girl would be amazing on its own, but my daughter has certainly never been seen around a boy before_._" _Her mother gave it some consideration and amended, _"Well, besides Cheren, but he hardly counts at this point, really."

"_He's just another trainer, Mom. We're both heading to Nacrene so we're traveling together."_

"Together, hmm? I traveled together with your father…"

"_Mom! Seriously!"_

"Oh fine. No teasing about boys." _Mrs. White gave in with a little sigh. But it was only about five seconds of silence before she smiled again._ "So, what's your gender neutral friend's name?"

"_I have to go. Zebstrika, you know? You know how much I love Zebstrika."_

"Tch. Changing the subject, that's hardly fair."

"_You would know," Touko replied with a roll of her eyes. "I'll talk to you later."_

"Say hi to your friend for me!"

"_Bye. I love you," Touko said and ended the call. She was sure to get in trouble for that later, but the "I love you" had to give her some credit. Plus, she only played it the same as her mother always did._

_Touko looked over into the grass where she saw N leave. She could see the top of the manes of some of the Blitzle. But a Zebstrika! She really didn't expect to see one so soon. She put a hand over her heart, trying to figure out just what she was feeling._

_There was a twinge of panic, of sadness and guilt. Overwhelming those feelings, she happily found that she was actually excited. Touko smiled widely. If she waited any longer she might miss out, so she ran into the grass across the road without further delay._

_When she reached the small clearing her eyes lit up. There had to be at least a dozen Blitzle, but at the front of the herd stood a tall Zebstrika. N stood beside the tall Pokémon, petting it to keep it in place. He looked up, noticing her presence._

"_Zebstrika agreed to wait for you after hearing how much you liked him," he explained to her._

_Touko inched forward, suddenly uneasy. All of the wild Pokémon she'd met tended to attack right away. There were exceptions, now that N was with her. And of course N was there right now, but…_

"_Are you sure it's safe? He's a wild Pokémon after all…" She was more doubtful the closer she stepped. Zebstrika looked wonderful in pictures, but he looked quite intimidating so close up._

"_Wild Pokémon are just Pokémon. They only want to know that you're not a threat. You were talking about Blitzle in herds, so you know. They won't consider you a threat."_

_The underlying implication that a herd of Blitzle could easily take her down didn't help much. But N was right. Pokémon were just Pokémon, no matter what. Touko gave a small, still-uncertain nod and walked the rest of the way to stand in front of the Zebstrika. Then stopped and stared at it, unsure of what to do next._

"_Zebstrika gave permission, you can pet him."_

"_Eh!?" Touko looked up at N in disbelief. "But he's an electric-type Pokémon. Won't it hurt me?"_

_As N was petting Zebstrika himself without any problems, Touko immediately knew this was a stupid question. N, however, didn't point this out and answered nicely, "It won't. You said you studied Zebstrika, you should know…"_

_She did. So she knew that she would be fine. In theory anyway._

_Touko reached out her hand and cautiously, _gently_, touched Zebstrika's neck. There was no shock. _Zebstrika's electricity is stored in its mane,_ Touko remembered from one of her childhood books. She pet Zebstrika slowly, avoiding his mane at first until she relaxed._

_Then her fingers brushed along the fearsome looking mane. She quickly pulled her fingers back, but rather than a shock of pain, she felt a tingle through her arm that made her giggle. "It tickles," she said in between laughs._

_She continued to pet the Zebstrika, getting used to the sensation somewhat when she brushed against his mane. It was amazing, even moreso than seeing what N had done with the Bouffalant the first day. She was petting a wild Pokémon._

_Touko looked at N with a smile and found herself surprised to see that he was smiling back at her. Just a little, but it made her freeze up. Was that the first time she'd actually seen him smile? At the very least it was the first time she'd seen him smile so genuinely._

_For a moment, while they looked at each other, Touko got the strange urge to tell him exactly what had happened to her father, the full meaning of Zebstrika. She felt like she could tell N and he wouldn't pity her like everyone else. He would just listen. Like before._

_But that was silly. Touko averted her eyes quickly and went back to petting Zebstrika. She didn't even know N that well, it was unfair to make him listen to her burden._

_The moment over, she pushed it aside and focused on the present; a smile grew on her face. She'd really met her dream Pokémon. Her heart swelled as the Zebstrika's eyes met hers and the wild Pokémon showed neither fear nor disdain for a weaker trainer like her. Thanks to N she was sure._

"_I've never…this is…" She looked up at N, still in some disbelief over the situation._

_The small smile he gave her in return struck another sudden whim in Touko. She had trouble getting the important things out sometimes, but this was one impulse of honesty she was going to follow through with._

"_Thank you," she delivered the short statement with as much emotion as she had in her and a heartfelt smile. Then with a quick laugh, embarrassed at her sincerity, she looked back at the Pokémon before her._

_N looked inquisitive, but didn't ask anything about it. She was just being polite, there was no need for him to question it. If he did, she'd already decided it would be bad to give that much away._

_But she wouldn't forget it very soon._

Thank you…for giving me back Zebstrika.

**XWXWXWXWX**

Maybe she just wanted to help him, like he unknowingly helped her.

That was the latest reasoning for Touko's concern as she walked into the Nacrene City Museum. She'd gone through a whole list on her walk to and from the Poké Center. It still sounded exactly like friendship though, helping each other out. Touko was just still getting used to the idea.

Also, she could use some sort of distraction from her next task at the gym.

And as she stood in front of the museum's largest exhibit, she thought she might have found something better than her own internal debates.

The dragon skeleton.

The exhibit N had mentioned was pretty hard to miss; it stood at the center of the museum, imposingly looking down at anyone who entered the museum.

_Or at least it would if it had eyes,_ Touko thought with a small frown.

Funny how she didn't even really notice it her first time walking into the building. It was pretty darn noticeable.

It was big. _Very big_.

Touko stepped closer, still keeping her eyes on the skeleton, though a line was forming between her brows the longer she looked.

Big wasn't all that significant.

It felt like she was missing something.

She was looking at an exhibit. This skeleton was a thing that was important enough to display in a museum. But she didn't feel anything different when she looked up at it. It was just a skeleton of a Pokémon. It was kind of sad that it was dead, but skimming the nearby plaque said it was old enough to be a fossil. So that sort of lessened the sadness.

Touko turned her head to the side, to try and look from a different angle. But nope, still nothing. A small sigh escaped her lips as she leaned forward against the railing.

Zebstrika, a fairly common Pokémon, had put her in awe. The first time she laid eyes on Lillipup had been such a thrill. This ancient Pokémon though…didn't even move.

Of course it was dead, so that couldn't be helped. She supposed that was the significance. People made a big fuss over rare Pokémon and what could be rarer than the Pokémon that was dead? Well, except the ones found in complete enough fossils to be reborn.

N didn't care about rarity of Pokémon though, so that theory was out for him. Maybe it was the fact that it was a Pokémon he couldn't understand. A mystery about Pokémon that was beyond even his grasp.

Then again, despite mentioning it, he hadn't seemed that interested in the skeleton in particular (her distractions were proving pointless again). What N did say was something about it reminding him of another Pokémon…that legendary…Reshiram…?

There was a vague sense of recollection at the name that Touko couldn't quite place. A memory or a dream…

A story…

"_Once there was a dragon…"_

"Aha! Interested in our dragon, I see!"

Touko turned sharply to the source of the loud voice.

There stood an ordinary-looking man wearing a pair of glasses. He was a little short, though still taller than Touko, and she Touko felt a little silly for that short moment of fright…which stubbornly persisted as she looked at the stranger warily.

"Let me introduce myself," he said in the same enthusiastic tone that had startled her so much at first. "My name is Hawes; I'm the assistant director of this museum."

So, he worked at the museum. That made sense, Touko decided observing his suit, amongst the casual tourist wear of others in the museum. It made her less wary, but once instincts kicked in, it was hard to turn them off. Even moreso if someone was already disinclined to say much…

"Sorry, did I startle you?"

It was too easy to see through her. At least the embarrassment was enough to motivate her into a small squeak, "It's fine…"

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," he said cheerfully (he didn't notice that she hadn't said, "no") and immediately turned to the dragon skeleton. "You seemed so interested in our exhibit that I got excited. It's the pride of the museum, this skeleton."

Touko wasn't interested at all, which was exactly the problem. Instead of letting that conundrum out in the open though, she mumbled, "I see."

"There's a theory that it had an accident while it was flying around the world, and so it became a fossil. Well, there are a few more steps in there, but you get the idea." He turned back to Touko. "But this is just one of our exhibits! Come, let me show you!"

At this point, all Touko wanted to do was get to the gym, but the assistant-director was already off at another glass case. So, Touko followed behind, too polite to voice her lack of interest now. She'd already (weakly) committed to the part, so she might as well play it out.

Throughout the tour, Hawes explained the significance of each exhibit and Touko remained distracted. She kept looking back at the dragon skeleton, which could be seen from every corner of the museum. She wondered what it had to do with Reshiram and _why that name sounded so familiar_! She knew it had something to do with a legend, something about Unova's founding from what N said, but she hadn't heard the tale since she was a very young child. After that she'd become much more interested in the Pokémon around her rather than fantasies.

When Touko did tune into the lectures, all she really learned was that there were a lot of rocks in the world; some from space, some that used to be living, but essentially all of the just rocks and not very interesting.

Until the one exhibit they almost walked right by. Hawes still discussing the last one and didn't even seem to notice, but Touko stopped immediately. Out of habit, she assumed at first. But as she walked closer to the exhibit, she saw that there was no real information written on the placard. Inside the glass case was just a spherical black rock.

Perhaps it was the mystery, but Touko actually found herself a little interested in this rock of unknown origin.

"Lost you for a minute there," Hawes said, reappearing behind Touko. She vaguely wondered how long he had gone on talking to himself before he'd noticed she was gone.

"What is this exhibit?" she asked without removing her gaze from the stone.

"Oh, this? It's an ordinary old stone. It was found near the desert, but other than the fact that it's old, it doesn't seem to have any value…We only display it because it's rather pretty to look at."

Touko dealt with the plummeting expectations with a weak little laugh. Honestly, at least she got the purpose of all the other rocks this was just a rock from the…

Suddenly, Touko stood up straight. "The _desert_?"

"Of course!" Hawes replied, full back to enthusiastic after the lackluster review of the round rock. "A great majority of our exhibits come from the desert. It is home to perhaps the oldest parts of Unova, so it only makes sense. A case could be made for Dragonspiral tower, but since there's not getting in there it remains a mystery. For now, the ruins in the desert are Unova's greatest archeological resource…"

At this point, Touko had to tune out her tourguide again to cope. She would have to figure out some way out of this before he started on…

"…such an unusual Pokémon, too. Yamask and—"

"Ah!" Touko called out abruptly, deciding on expediency over politeness. After receiving a startled look from the director, it occurred to her to try and come up with an explanation. "I…I just remembered I have to meet my friends for lunch and…I have to go to the gym first, you know?" she rattled out as fast as she could, her voice quieting into almost a whisper.

"That's right, you must be a trainer," Hawes replied, immediately going with the flow. "Right up the stairs. You'll get directions from the library."

Touko muttered her thanks and ran for the stairs, cursing with each step how easy it ended up being. She could have just done that from the beginning.

Well, at least by that point, she'd had enough distraction. She let herself have a quick laugh at her own expense.

Finally, she stood at the top of the stairs, the gym just ahead, but Touko couldn't help but take one last look at the museum behind her. Even from this height, the dragon skeleton stood tall.

What did N want with a Pokémon from an old legend? Perhaps every Trainer dreamed about having a Pokémon like that every once in a while, but he seemed so _determined_.

Touko took a deep breath in and out. This was silly; she'd already decided to figure it out later, so she'd figure it out later. What could she do now but focus on the battle and keep her promise about Castelia City?

She gripped her first Poké Ball. She'd planned it ages ago; she'd use Lillipup first, try things out with a normal Pokémon. Then Panpour, who had gotten quite strong. Snivy was her ace if the others couldn't handle things on their own. If she had to go any further then that she didn't know what would happen. Patrat might be able to save the battle, but Purrloin…

She'd just have to stop such a situation from happening. After all, she was still an undefeated trainer. It wasn't like she was bad at what she did. She had that confirmed today.

"I can do this," she whispered to herself one last encouragement and walked through the door.

**XWXWXWXWX**

"Snivy! One last time, use leaf tornado to knock him out!"

The battle took out both Lillipup and Panpour, both of whom had berries to survive a couple of particularly hard blows. Snivy was on his last legs. It had taken every last bit of energy from Touko's three strongest Pokémon against just two of Lenora's. Two normal-type Pokémon, the most common and _clearly_ taken for granted.

Touko understood that warning her mother gave about aprons very quickly after she spotted the one the archeologist sported in the first round of the fight.

But in the end, Touko won just in time.

"Well, I'm getting a lot of good trainers around these days! Two days and three trainers who all put up an excellent fight," Lenora congratulated her after the loss of Watchog, her final Pokémon.

Touko's smile was uneasy as she stepped onto the field to take care of Snivy. Lenora took to the loss like Chili had in Striaton, looking more excited about it than anything. But Touko wasn't going to let the praise get to her head; she had a good idea of who the better one was. If they'd been fighting with the same amount of Pokémon, it would have been Touko's loss.

Just the same, she mumbled, "Thanks."

Lenora met her and Snivy in the middle of the Gym. "Now honestly, I can tell when you trainers are being too modest. I don't praise unnecessarily, you know, and I don't hold back," she chastised, causing Touko to look down with a red face.

She hadn't meant to imply anything like that!

"Truly, your fighting style is so enchanting. It is charming. You are a Pokémon trainer worthy of receiving this Basic Badge!"

When Touko was handed the badge, she smiled more easily and replied again more earnestly, "Thank you very much."

Lenora gave a nod of approval, satisfied for the moment.

For the first time since she walked down the stairs, Touko took a good look at her surroundings. When she entered, she was too focused, adrenaline pumping to see anything but her next opponent. Now she saw that their battle arena really looked a lot more like a study.

Likewise, she looked at Lenora anew, seeing the museum director rather than just the gym leader. She wondered what kind of knowledge an archeologist might have about ancient legends. At least more than the average person on the street, right?

Before Touko figured out how to word the question, Lenora had caught onto her confusion. "Well, for a winner you sure look a little lost," she said with a kindly smile. "Anything I can do?"

The invitation relieved some of Touko's tension. She wouldn't feel so silly if the question was misplaced. Though it was slowly occurring to Touko, that as something she thought she'd heard once, it might actually be common knowledge. She kind of wished she hadn't thought of that, but plowed ahead anyway, "Some mentioned a name of a Pokémon that I'm not that familiar with. Sort of…from a legend, I think. I think I may have heard it before, but I can't really remember and…"

Lenora was being very polite about it, but it was clear that she was rambling. Touko swallowed and decided to get to the point, "Its name was —"

Unfortunately, the sound of the door slamming open and the clatter of someone running down the stairs drowned out what Touko was saying.

"Dear!" the assistant director, Hawes (who clearly had a closer relationship with the director than Touko realized) called out. "Dear! Come quickly! Team Plasma is threatening to steal some bones!"

At the words "Team Plasma" Touko immediately forgot about Reshiram, anger at the gang of hypocritical Pokémon thieves overtaking everything. If her troubles in Striaton weren't enough, she now had her failure to add onto the grude. She promised Bianca to help her find that little girl's Pokémon and had been frustratingly inept at following through thus far. She clenched her hands into fists at the reminder now.

"What? What's going on?" Lenora asked in a panic, meeting Hawes midway in the gym.

"Team Plasma's gimmick is saving Pokémon," Touko explained, anger once again making her forget herself. "But what does stealing bones have to do with 'saving Pokémon'?"

Lenora looked back at Touko. "I don't know, but you better come too, Touko. My Pokémon are all still out for the moment. This timing couldn't be worse." She hurried up the stairs, leaving her husband and Touko behind.

_Or better_, Touko couldn't help but think. She called Snivy into his Poké Ball and ran up the stairs after Lenora.

She ran as fast as she could, ignoring questions from trainers in the library above, but by the time she reached the museum, the confrontation was already taking place down below. There must have been more than a dozen Team Plasma members in the museum, surrounding the skeleton at the center.

"Now you wait!" Lenora commanded. "Enough fooling around!"

Touko ran down the steps to stand by Lenora, a hand on a Poké Ball. Snivy, Lillipup, and Panpour were all in no condition to battle, but she still had Patrat and Purrloin. Even so, against so many, she was hesitant to try anything.

"So, you've come Gym Leader," a redhead at the front said. "We, Team Plasma, claim this museum's dragon skull in the name of Pokémon liberation!"

"What kind of rubbish is that?" Touko interjected, her voice scornful. "You're getting farther from the target every time I see you."

The speaker seemed confused by Touko's outburst for a moment until he received a nudge from the girl next to him and continued on, "To show you we're serious, we'll steal it right before your eyes!"

Touko frowned; previously, when she talked back it was addressed. It was as if this guy was following some script. Almost exactly like that, in fact…

"Well, then, here's our smoke screen!" the speaker announced and several pods were thrown onto the ground.

Touko started, "If we can't see, you're not—" but the smoke was too much and she had to cover her mouth to keep from coughing. For a moment, she was filled with panic, remembering her previous ordeal, but it was just ordinary smoke to conceal, not destroy.

Actually, that remained to be seen considering their declaration.

Many voices called out, "Plasma!" followed by the sound of scurrying footsteps.

When the smoke cleared…both the skull and Team Plasma were gone.

* * *

**Author's Request:** At this point the schedule is well and truly dead. I'm not the sort to go on about my personal life, but suffice to say there has been stuff. Not serious stuff, but multiple piles of stuff. My priorities in dealing with this stuff has knocked this fanfic down to (almost) the bottom of the pile. Then there was BW2, so there was a good chunk of time negotiating that around my stuff and fully ignoring this.

But I'm back. With considerations to my stuff though, I'd like to make a small request if anyone is willing to help. I don't feel confident in my brain capacity to catch important writing problems. If anyone wants to offer to beta, I would be ecstatic. I just want an outside opinion to give me a basic green light or red light on any major mistakes. Basically, I want to be stopped if a chapter as a whole is a failure. I don't want someone to take time to pick at everything, because we're all so short on time these days. It would just put my mind at ease right away instead of the long wait before the first review.

So, PM me if you're interested! Thanks!

**Author's Note on FerrisWheelShipping:** I have noticed that apparently I have this inclination to write N and Touko as some kind of sitcom duo. I feel like this was my true motivation in the whole route 3 stuff. To make Touko more familiar with N so she can just be exasperated by him instead of the more logical response of, "Seriously, who are you and what is your deal?"

I feel like the reason FerrisWheelShipping gets some grief from the outside is because it's so often refitted into a premade couple. Now, you can't really mess up Touko/Hilda, but N! Fanfic!N is so often doing things that I don't even think N would even understand. I like N being the way he is, which is why I am always on edge about his characterization (I do think I make him more friendly than he should be often). Also, the math stuff…why…

I guess what I want to say is that mainly what I enjoy about FerrisWheelShipping (aside from the thematic stuff) is the extreme potential for _awkward_. Hence…everything I do really.

What I wrote makes more sense in my head, but there you (kind of) have it.


End file.
